Before the Devil knows you're dead
by K.C.Dragonfly
Summary: "If it were any other victim, we'd look into their family." - "But it's not just any other victim. It's our Sara." Sometimes in order to go forward, you have to go back; even if that means deconstructing the past she didn't want you to know about. No ships, just CSI-family lovin'
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or the characters, merely playing with them**

**Hi guys :) This one is going to be a lot darker than my last one, but I hope you like it. Let me know what you think. **

**No ships this time, just a lot of friendship and team spirit :)**

**x x x x**

Catherine released a sigh, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. It was a slow night and apparently she'd done something to piss Grissom off, the combination of which only led to one end: paperwork.

She emitted a frustrated groan; tossing her pen onto the desk and watching it bounce across the scattered folders. It was barely mid-shift and she was already bored out of her skull. She shook her hair out, rolling her tense shoulders. If she was going to spend another four hours doing this, she needed coffee.

Someone must have it in for her tonight, because before she could get her fix her cell phone trilled. She snatched it up without bothering to check the caller ID.

"Willows." She drawled lazily; a surprised smile making its way across her face when she recognised the voice. "Oh, hey Nancy. What's up?"

She heard her sister take a deep breath on the other end of the phone. "_Cath…"_

"Hey, while I've got you here," Catherine interrupted without giving her chance to answer. "Did you know you left your spare work uniform at my house?"

"_Yeah, I know. Catherine…_" Nancy didn't know actually, but she brushed the comment off, trying to regain the older woman's attention with little success.

"I washed it for you; you can pick it up next time your over." Cath continued chirpily, glad for the unexpected interruption to her boring night. "You need to clean out your pockets more often!"

"_Catherine_." Nancy erupted in a frustrated tone. It had the desired effect; Catherine fell silent.

"Yeah?" She asked uncertainly. She heard her sister release a shuddering breath on the end of the line before she continued in an even and gentle voice.

"_I need you to listen to me. Is your Sara at work tonight?_"

"Sara?" Catherine echoed, certain she must have misheard. When the nurse didn't say anything, she answered. "No, it's her night off. Nance, what's going on?"

Nancy pursed her lips, cursing the person who'd called in sick tonight leaving her to deal with this. "_I think you should come to the hospital_." She said softly. Catherine felt her blood freeze.

"Nancy…" she repeated weakly. "What's going on? What's happened to Sara?"

"_Just … come, okay_."

"Nancy?" She practically whimpered but it was too late. She had already hung up.

X x x

"Hey, where's the fire?" Nick joked, dodging around Catherine as she tore past him in the corridor.

"I'm going to the hospital; tell Grissom I'll call him from there!" She hollered over her shoulder.

"The hospital?" He repeated, all humour draining from his face. "What's going on?"

"I don't know yet." She turned briefly to respond, before hurtling through reception and out of the front doors. He remained an island in the middle of the hallway, watching her disappear with a helpless expression.

X x x

"Nancy!" she yelled over the sound of medical jargon and clattering of metal trays. The nurse stopped what she was doing and reached out to catch her as she skidded to a halt. "What's going on, the front desk wouldn't tell me anything." She was breathless and her side was burning. Nancy tugged her aside so they weren't blocking the hall.

"We had a female brought in from an RTC – collision between a vehicle and a motorbike." She explained with the calmness of someone who deals with this sort of horror every day. "They haven't found any ID for the biker but I think it's your Sara." She paused, waiting for her the words to register. Catherine's face paled, her mouth opening and closing silently in shock. When she didn't say anything, Nancy continued. "We need someone to positively identify her."

Those words were far too familiar for the CSI's liking.

"Is she..?" She stuttered, trying to keep the tears back.

"She's alive." Nancy surmised softly. "Barely. She was DOA when they brought her in but we got her back." Catherine smothered a sob with her hand. She shook her head slowly, trying to understand what she was being told. "Cath?" Nancy pressed softly, fixing her with a questioning look.

Cath met her gaze, realising what she was going to have to do. Straightening up in an attempt to muster some strength, she offered a small nod.

X x x

It was a private room. The bed was surrounded by satellites of machines, beeping and hissing at rhythmic intervals. A young woman was scribbling something on a clipboard; she barely spared them a glance when they entered so engrossed was she in the patient's stats.  
On the bed, barely visible beneath bandages and bruises, was a young dark-haired woman.

Catherine crept closer, unable to the tear her gaze from her but not quite daring to reach out and touch her.

There was a bandage wrapped around her head, and another around each arm. A piece of gauze was taped to her chest, peeping out from beneath the gown. Her face was littered with bruises and cuts, scrapes and abrasions. A tube, taped across her mouth, was helping her to breath. She looked like a train wreck.

But she was, undeniably, Sara Sidle.

Catherine reached out a hand, letting her fingertips graze the top of her head.

"No, Sara, no." she whispered, blinking back tears. Having got the answer she needed, Nancy mumbled something to the other nurse and waited for her to scamper off before creeping up to the big sister's side. Catherine sniffed, casting a brief glance at her sibling.

"You said … it was a car crash?" she asked, trying to recall the conversation from minutes ago.

"Yeah. A car hit her motorbike." Vaguely, she remembered being told that, but she still looked up in surprise.

"Sara doesn't have a motorbike."

"Well, she was riding one." Nancy shrugged, pointing to a table on the far side of the room. "The paramedics prised that off her."

Cath's eyes fell on the cracked and grazed helmet. It was a whole minute before she finally tore her gaze from it, turning her attention back to her prone friend.

"I have to call the team." She murmured absently. "They need to be here."

"Well, right now there's not much more we can do for her." Nancy said sadly, letting her hand trail across Sara's arm. "Now we have a positive ID, at least we can track down her medical history."

"Is she going to be alright?" It suddenly occurred to Catherine that she hadn't even asked that question yet.

"She's got a fractured skull, a dislocated shoulder, three broken ribs, a broken pelvis …"

"Nancy." Cath cut her off tearfully, her voice cracking. "Is she going to be okay?" Her sister held her gaze firmly.

"Honestly, I don't know." She placed a feather-light kiss on her cheek before leaving her to digest the information.

Not even bothering to disguise her sobs this time, Catherine sank on to the floor beside the bed and let her tears fall.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far :) ** **I'll do my best to keep updates quick.**

**'Happy' - I'm touched that you check back regularly for my fics :) I hope this doesn't disappoint. **

**Also, I need a new theme for my chapter titles (regular readers will understand) and I'm open to suggestions :)  
**

**x x x x**

Grissom grabbed the phone on the first ring, relief flooding his features when a familiar voice drifted down the line.

"Catherine, thank God." He breathed. "Nick said you're at the hospital?"

"Yeah." She agreed, trying and failing to disguise the tremor in her voice. "I'm fine. But … you guys need to come down here."

"Cath, what's wrong?" Gil asked. She took a deep, shuddering breath; one which she was certain he heard.

"Sara's been in an accident." The words sounded alien in her mouth.

"Is she alright?" Grissom asked urgently, and she could practically see him rising out of his seat as his voice rose with panic. There was another voice in the background; Warrick's possibly, asking what was going on.

"No." Catherine answered honestly, hanging up.

X x x

Grissom stared at the phone for a whole minute before Warrick's voice filtered through the fog in his mind.

He looked up, meeting his concerned colleague's green eyes.

"Sara's at the hospital. She's been in an accident." He explained numbly, having not heard the question but assuming that was the answer.

"What?" Warrick barked. "Is she alright?"

"Cath…she wouldn't say." The boss shook his head, trying to jolt himself into action. "I'll call Ecklie on the way to explain; get Nick and Greg." He instructed. "We're taking the night off."

X x x

"Nick!" Warrick stumbled into the DNA lab, where the Texan was leaning against a table chatting up Wendy, a coy smile playing on his lips.

Nick turned to his friend, one eyebrow raised.

"What's up partner?" He queried with a small frown.

"Catherine just called from the hospital." Warrick breathed, propping himself up with the doorframe. "It's Sara."

Nick straightened up, his expression serious now. "What's happened?" He asked; images of police shootouts and un-cleared scenes flooding his mind before the logical part of it could remind him that Sara wasn't at work tonight.

"She just said there's been an accident." Rick shrugged helplessly, gesturing in the general direction of the parking lot. "We have to go."

Before the men disappeared, Wendy grabbed Nick's sleeve, a pleading look in her eyes.

"Hey, give me a call when you know what's happened?" She asked, her features contorting into one off concern. They uttered some assurance that they would, already battling their way down the busy hallway.

Wendy released a sigh. She turned, startled to find Hodges lurking behind her with a questioning look on his face.

"What's going on?" He asked curiously, inching closer when he noticed the fretful look in her eyes.

X x x

"Excuse me," Grissom cleared his throat. "I'm looking for Sara Sidle. She was brought in from an accident."

"What sort of accident?" The receptionist asked, not even tearing her gaze from the computer screen.

"I … I don't know." He admitted. "She was brought in earlier; you called my colleague about it – Catherine Willows."

The woman gave him an exasperated look, but Nick's voice from somewhere to his right cut him off. Grissom followed the sound, abandoning the reception desk and its bored protector to jog after the younger men.

Nick and Warrick were heading down a corridor of private rooms. Several yards ahead, staring blankly through a window into one such room while nursing a cup of coffee that had long since gone stone cold, was Catherine.

"Cath!" Warrick called, running over to her. She didn't flinch at the sound of her name, or tear her stare from the window. "What happened?" He asked breathlessly, finally reaching her. Nick and Grissom fell in beside them and all three wore matching expectant faces.

Catherine didn't offer an answer, just a nod. They followed her line of sight through the small window.

The young woman lying on the bed in the next room, bruised and bloodied and covered in gauze was hardly recognisable as their friend.

"Oh God." Nick gasped, clamping a hand over his mouth.

"They don't know if she's going to make it through the night." Catherine finally spoke, her voice hoarse and weak.

"What the hell happened?" Warrick asked, rubbing a hand over his face.

"She was hit by a car." She sent the boys a questioning look, finally shifting her gaze. "Did you know she had a motorbike?"

Nick and Grissom shook their heads but Warrick nodded slowly, understanding clouding his green eyes.

"Yeah, I knew." He mumbled. "Suzuki Bandit 1250S".

"Well she doesn't anymore." Cath sighed softly, shaking her head in despair.

There was a moment of contemplative silence as they all watched their motionless friend fight for her life.

"Why did the hospital call you?" Grissom asked at last.

"They didn't." She mumbled absently. "Nancy called me. They never found her ID but Nance thought she recognised her." She paused, shaking off the feeling that washed over her at the memory of that phone call. "She wanted me to come down here and see if it was her."

"Are you sure it is?" Nick asked, hope creeping into his voice. She nodded, surreptitiously wiping at her eyes.

"It's her." She paused, glancing around the men for the first time. "Where's Greg?"

"I called him, he's on his way." Nick explained softly.

As if summoned by the mention of his name, the youngest team member sprinted around the corner, almost slamming into them. Nick caught the smaller man by the shoulders, steadying him before he fell.

"Where is she?" He gasped. Following their silent cues, he turned to the window. As soon as his dark eyes settled on the woman's body, he emitted a soft mewling sob and sunk into Nick's arms.

"Alright buddy." The Texan hushed, carefully lowering his friend to the floor. Greg kept hold of him, burying his face in the older man's neck. Nick held him, looking up at the others with a pained expression. "She's going to get through this." He promised, hoping for everyone's sake that it was true.

X x x

"Catherine," Grissom called for the sixth time in as many minutes. "Why don't you sit down? You can't stare at her all night."

"What do you want me to do?" she asked, offering no other movement. Nick and Grissom had claimed the uncomfortable plastic chairs lining the corridor. Greg remained on the floor, sleeping fitfully as he slumped against the wall.

Grissom released a frustrated breath, trying to think of some way to prise Catherine from the window. She'd been stood there for two hours since the boys arrived, who knows how long in total; he was surprised she hadn't collapsed from exhaustion yet.

Warrick strode down the quiet hallway towards them, wearing the expression of a man who needed a stiff drink.

"Man, that was hard." He breathed, dropping into the seat beside Nick.

"You remember to call the techs?" The Texan asked.

"Yeah." Warrick sighed, shaking his head. "Wendy was pretty cut up about it."

"Do we know what happened yet?" Grissom interjected. Warrick exhaled deeply, resting his hands on his knees. Despite having her back to them, Catherine's ears pricked up at the change in topic.

"Ecklie tracked down the case file. It's a dayshift case but they didn't consider it high priority until now." He explained, tiredness creeping into his voice. "Witnesses said a black Honda Civic doing twice the speed limit drifted into the wrong lane while trying to clear a corner, slammed into the bike coming the other way."

"What about the driver?" Catherine asked, turning away from Sara to fix him with a questioning look. "Was he hurt?" She wasn't as concerned about the driver's welfare as the prospect of being able to find him in the hospital and interrogate him.

Warrick shook his head slowly, meeting her eyes.

"He didn't stop. They're looking for him now."


	3. Chapter 3

**Again, thank you to everyone reading and reviewing :) I'll do my best not to leave y'all waiting too long for the next chapter x**

**x x x x**

Archie sent Hodges an irritated look as the man shifted impatiently from one foot to the other beside him.

"Well, what did they say?" The trace tech asked eagerly as soon as Wendy hung up. She turned to the group of expectant lab rats with a pained expression.

"They said it was a vehicle accident. She was on a motorbike and got hit by a car."

There was a unanimous gulp of breath from the gathered scientists.

"Jesus. Is she going to be alright?" Archie asked, his usually playful expression contorted into an anxious frown.

"She's in a coma; Warrick said she's in quite a state." She swallowed, blinking back tears. She debated not telling them the next bit, but decided it was better to prepare them for the worst. "The doctors aren't hopeful."

"Anything we can do?" Mandy asked quietly, peering over her glasses at Wendy.

"Day shift is handling the scene, so clear the decks and make anything coming in top priority." She answered. "The car that hit her took off; they're still trying to find it."

"I'll find out where the crash site was and see if I can get CCTV footage." Archie said, springing to his feet.

"I'll get in touch with the dayshift CSI on the case and see what sort of stuff we can expect coming in." Hodges followed suit. Henry, Bobby and the women shared a small moment of sad silence before returning to their respective labs.

X x x

Grissom looked up tiredly at the sound of approaching footsteps. Doc Robbins and Jim were making their way down the hall with matching expressions of gloom.

"She's in there." He pointed weakly to the room opposite. Brass swallowed hard; barely able to look, he joined Grissom in the cold hospital chairs. Doc took a moment longer to survey her visible injuries before joining them.

"So apart from sleeping beauty, where are the others?" Jim asked gesturing to the dozing Greg, who remained on the floor. Despite Nick's thick jacket draped over him, he was shivering against the cold wall he was slumped on.

"The boys took Catherine to the canteen for something to eat." Gil explained, wiping a hand over his face. "She hasn't moved from that spot in five hours."

"And what happened there?" The detective continued, pointing to an upturned chair several feet down the hallway.

"Nick." Grissom shrugged weakly. "When he found out the driver took off he …" Jim held up a hand. He could figure out the rest. Nick's temper was not unfamiliar to anyone at the lab, least of all his former supervisor.

"What have the doctors said about Sara's condition?" Albert asked, changing the subject. "Warrick said on the phone that it wasn't looking good."

"She has several broken bones, a fractured skull, internal bleeding." The entomologist listed. "She lost a lot of blood at the scene and they haven't managed to track down her medical file yet."

"I spoke with Ecklie." Brass jumped in before he could depart anymore bad news. "He's got days working the crash site."

"Yeah, I know." Gil sighed again. "He's going to call as soon as we get a word on the Honda."

Their conversation was cut short by the return of the rest of the team.

Without even giving the men a second glance, Catherine rounded straight into Sara's room.

"She's struggling." Grissom explained awkwardly. Beside him, Greg stirred.

"Is she awake?" He asked sleepily, stretching his stiff, numb muscles.

"Not yet Greg."

The young man pushed himself unsteadily to his feet and followed Catherine in. The rest of the men shrugged and followed behind.

"I wouldn't even know it was her under all that." Jim said softly, casting his gaze over the battered young woman. Catherine had taken up residence beside the bed, her hands clasped in prayer position on the mattress. Greg was perched at the foot of it, careful not to touch the patient lest he hurt her further.

"Any word on her family?" Warrick asked at last, clearing his throat to break the uncomfortable silence that had befallen the team.

"Until the hospital finds her medical record we don't have an emergency contact." Grissom said. "For some reason there isn't one on file at the lab."

"I'll have Sofia look into it." Brass offered.

"Yeah, someone out there needs to know about this." Nick added softly.

The door creaked open and a tall dark-haired man in a white coat walked in, doing a double take at the number of people crowded into the small room.

"Why hasn't she woken up yet?" Greg asked before he even got through the door. Taking the question in his stride the doctor meandered through the crowd of scientists to the bed and touched Sara's head lightly.

"She's been through a massive trauma. Her body needs time to recover." He answered unhelpfully. "The good news is her x-rays suggest the pelvic fracture is not as bad as we first thought."

Doc Robbins sidled over to him, sizing the medical man up.

"Doctor Albert Robbins." He announced, making sure his position was received. "How bad are we talking?"

It was clear that this man wanted more detail than the doctor was used to providing for family – and he was slightly concerned about the cane he was wielding – so he produced an x-ray and held it up for view.

"Initially we assumed Miss Sidle would have an unstable fracture, but tests show that her sacroiliac complex is intact. Other than that, she suffered severe hemorrhagic shock due to internal injuries. Although our tests suggest that her skull fracture shouldn't cause any permanent brain damage, we won't know for definite until the swelling goes down. We've done everything we conceivably can, so now it's just a case of waiting to see whether she's strong enough to survive the effect of the injuries and the surgery."

He snapped the folder shut, waiting for further questions. When the man didn't appear to have any, the doctor slipped her folder into the slot at the end of the bed, checked her readings on the machines and then left them to guard the young woman in peace.

"English, please?" Cath requested weakly once they were alone.

"There are three types of pelvic fracture." Doc explained, helping himself to the folder to read her results for himself. "Her's is the least serious."

"He mentioned brain damage." Greg squeaked softly.

"There is a chance from the head injury and from the internal bleeding." The older man agreed, his voice softening as he read the uncensored list of injuries sustained. He flicked his eyes briefly up to Sara's face. She looked so small and vulnerable buried under the once-white blankets. "But there is also a chance she'll wake up and be fine."

"Why is she on a ventilator?" Jim asked, reaching out a hand to stroke one of Sara's gently.

"She stopped breathing during surgery." Doc answered, scanning the notes. "They intubated her. They'll probably keep it in until she's..."

"Did you see that?" Greg asked, cutting him off. "She moved." His eyes were latched onto the hand that Brass was caressing.

"Yeah, she did." The detective agreed with a bright smile. "Hey Sara, you hear us?" He cooed softly, crouching down towards her. Catherine picked up her other hand and held it against her lips, hoping to feel the same thing.

"I think she's trying to tell us that she's going to be alright." Albert smiled reassuringly, although it didn't quite reach his concerned blue eyes.

X x x

"How's Sara?" Ecklie asked, materialising at Grissom's side.

"She's … fighting." He answered awkwardly. "Where are we on the case?"

As if he was expecting the question, Ecklie produced a folder from somewhere and held out a stack of crime scene photos.

"Driver took off; no one got a good look at him but we've got a BOLO out on the car. Archie tracked down the CCTV footage and got a still of the car; he traced the licence plate. It was stolen from California three days ago." He explained with a small sigh. "As soon as we find it, I'll let you know."

Grissom had paused on one photo. He held it up for the boss to see.

"What is that?"

"That _was_ Sara's motorbike. Witnesses said it bounced..." Conrad explained, almost wincing in pain as he uttered the words. The pile of metal, crushed and scattered down the road, looked like it had been through a blender. Grissom swallowed hard, staring intently at the photo.

"When you find the car, let Warrick and Nick take it." He said at last, thrusting the photos back into Ecklie's hands. "They need something to do."

X x x

Catherine couldn't feel her ass anymore. She'd been sat in the same seat, staring intensely at Sara's bruised face, for the best part of three hours now. She thought that if she focused her entire mind on her, maybe she could give her the strength to wake up.

"Hey," Nancy greeted softly, breaking her concentration. "Where's everyone else?"

"Gone back to the lab." Cath answered. "The boys want to help. Brass has gone to try and track down her family."

"Well, we might be able to help there." Nancy smiled. "We finally tracked down her records; a nurse is bringing them now."

On cue, a young female nurse and the doctor from earlier wandered in with a folder. Absently Catherine wondered if manila folders were standard issue for any establishment such as this, or the lab. They spoke in hushed tones for a minute, comparing notes. Cath tuned them out, her attention once again fixed on Sara's serene face. But something made her ears prick up.

The young woman flicking through the records emitted a sharp intake of breath.

"Dr Greene." She called haltingly. "She has a DNR."


	4. Chapter 4

**Still looking for chapter title ideas :)**

**I hope you like, this is a bit of a filler chapter really - but we're getting to the good stuff I promise :) **

**x x x x**

DNR

Do Not Resuscitate.

All of a sudden, there was chaos. The doctor began barking orders at the nurses.

"Get that tube out of her!" He instructed bluntly.

"What?" Catherine yelped, launching to her feet. Her hand flew to Sara's chest, as if that alone could protect her friend from what they were about to do.

"Tip her head back, be careful of her neck." He told Nancy as he manoeuvred himself in front of the CSI, attempting to break her contact with the girl.

"No, you can't." Cath wailed, gripping Sara's hand tightly as she was nudged aside. "Stop! Please don't do this. She can't breathe!"

"Will someone get her out of here?" Dr Greene snapped impatiently. Catherine felt her sister's hands gripping her arms, extracting her from Sara.

And then she was in the hallway. Sobs wrenched their way from her throat as she watched through the glass. The tube was removed, the ventilator wheeled away.

There seemed to be a moment where nobody moved; and Catherine realised that they were waiting to see if she would breathe on her own. She held her own breath, willing Sara to hold on for her. And then there was action again. Details were scribbled down, readings where checked and an oxygen mask was placed over her face. Catherine wept quietly, relief and fatigue flooding her body in equal measure.

"No, Sara." She whispered helplessly, leaning against the wall. Unable to support her own weight anymore under the strain of the last two days, she slid down until she was curled in a ball, hiccupping cries breaking free from her exhausted body.

X x x

Archie shifted in his seat uncomfortably. He'd been staring at the same screens since he arrived at work that night. He had already gotten the licence plate but he was hoping to gain a glimpse of the driver's face. He currently had three screens open, showing the accident from three different angles. At the same time, he had an Automatic Number Plate Recognition Software scanning the live cameras. It taken a lot of persuasion but he'd managed to get unlimited access to the CCTV footage from all over Vegas, in case their hit-and-run suspect dared show his face again.

Just as his ass was starting to fall asleep and he was giving up hope of finding an angle where he could see the driver clearly from the stills, the live footage beeped. He spun his chair around, skidding across to the computer.

A camera on the edge of town had picked up the Black Honda Civic travelling west.

He snatched up his cell phone and hit speed dial.

"Brass, hey." He breathed. "I found him. Travelling West on Blue Diamond Road."

X x x

Nick took off his sunglasses, placing them on top of his head as he and Warrick climbed out of the Denali. Brass was already approaching.

"Any sign of the driver?" The Texan hollered.

"No, he must have ditched it and gone on foot." Jim shrugged, finally reaching them. "Archie lost him at the top of the road. My guys are looking for him."

"That or he had another car out here, waiting for him." Nick theorised.

Warrick nodded towards the car, abandoned on the side of the road with the driver's door still open. "We cleared to start?" He asked.

Jim nodded for them to go ahead, opting instead to greet Ecklie who'd just pulled up. Checking up on them, he supposed.

"Man." Nick whistled, surveying the wreck. "No wonder he ditched it."

"Yeah he wasn't going to get far, not with that dent." Warrick pointed out, shaking his head at the motorbike-shaped groove in the front bumper. "How much force do you think you need to do this kind of damage?"

"I don't know." Nick sighed. "He must have hit her at some speed."

"Witnesses estimated he was doing about 70." Ecklie announced, making his presence known. "And because it was on a corner…"

"…she wouldn't have even seen it coming." Warrick finished his thought with a sad sigh.

"No." Ecklie agreed softly. He paused, swallowing hard. "I hear they've withdrawn treatment?"

"They've withdrawn the ventilator." Nick clarified. "They'll still treat her but if she stops breathing again they won't take any special measures to resuscitate her."

"Well, I'll keep everything crossed." The boss nodded at them before stalking back to his car. The boys watched him leave, sharing a puzzled look. They were not used to this new side of their usually cold, calculating boss.

Not that they were complaining, of course.

X x x

"Alright," Greg held his hands up, having fielded as many questions as he could without bursting into tears. "Mandy; Nick lifted these from the car, please run them ASAP."

"I've already cleared the decks." She assured him, taking the offered envelope and scuttling back to her lab.

"Hodges, dirt from the wheel well." Greg continued, handing him a plastic tub.

"I'm on it." The lab rat nodded, negating to offer his usual sarcastic comments.

"You got anything for me?" Wendy asked hopefully, slinking up to his side.

"Blood from the steering wheel and chewing gum from under the dash." He said, holding out the bag. "Get back to me as soon as anything comes in."

"Absolutely, top of the pile."

With an abrupt nod he turned to leave but she called him back, fixing him with a sympathetic smile. "Sara's a strong girl. She'll be alright."

He nodded gratefully.

"Yeah, I hope so too."

X x x

"No."

"Please."

"I can't."

"There must be something you can do!"

Nancy stopped writing and turned to her big sister, doing her damndest to keep calm.

"Catherine, _she_ signed the DNR." The nurse pointed out. "I can't break that."

"Isn't there some way to overrule it?" Cath pleaded, although she already knew the answer.

"Not unless she wakes up and repeals it herself." Nancy returned to her work, hoping that would have pacified her sibling. It didn't.

"And is she going to wake up?" Catherine pressed, hovering over her shoulder.

"She's holding her own." Nancy surmised. "Right now, that's about as much as we can hope for."

X x x

"Hey Grissom." Sofia jogged down the hall, falling into step with the man. "How's she doing?"

"No change." He sighed, raising an eyebrow at the folder in the detective's hands. "You got something for me?"

"I traced the emergency contact the hospital gave us." She explained. "Dead end. Penelope Halliwell; Sara's maternal grandmother. She died two years ago."

"And there's no one else?" He asked sceptically. "No parents? No siblings?" He paused. "She mentioned a brother to me once."

"Well, I'm still looking." She answered, stopping to answer her vibrating cell phone. He carried on down the hall but before he could disappear into his office she called him back.

"Grissom." She held her cell phone up. "That was Brass. We found the brother." Grissom blinked in surprise. Ask and ye shall receive, apparently.

"Good, bring him in." He nodded curtly.

Sofia pursed her lips, shaking her head slowly; an action that made the supervisor's heart sink.

"He's in San Francisco morgue."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hope you like, let me know what you think :) x**

**x x x x**

"Jack Donovan Sidle." Jim declared, placing a photograph on the table for everyone to see. Having finally managed to extract Catherine from the hospital, the team were gathered around in the layout room to discuss the recent developments.

"He looks a mess." Nick winced. The photo in question had been sent over from the San Francisco Homicide Department. The deceased had been beaten to a pulp.

"Yeah, well he didn't look much better alive." Brass sighed, placing another photo down. This was a police suspect shot from earlier in the year of a drugged out, bruised man with shoulder-length chestnut brown hair and dark haunted eyes.

"Could Sara have known her brother was dead?" Catherine asked quietly, unable to stare at the images any longer. It pained her to think that they had been oblivious while their friend had been suffering grief alone.

"No." Brass assured them. "His body was found in the parking lot behind a bar early on Tuesday morning but the case wasn't considered a priority so he wasn't formally identified until Thursday night."

"Sara was already in the hospital." Nick surmised sadly.

"Any leads on who did it?" Warrick asked, gesturing to the beaten man.

"Not yet. They're thinking bar brawl; Jack was a notorious drunk. The bartender said this had been a long time coming."

They shared a moment of silence, considering the repercussions of this information. Whether Sara knew about her brother's lifestyle or not, sooner or later someone was going to have to explain this to her.

They hoped.

"The car that was used to hit Sara." Grissom jumped in with a frown. "It had California plates."

"Yeah, it was stolen." Nick agreed. "So?"

"Come on Gil," Brass said, recognising the look on his friend's face. "You're not thinking they're connected?"

"You think someone's targeting the whole family?" Warrick rephrased.

"I don't know." He admitted. "But it's a pretty big coincidence don't you think? Jack gets killed in California and then two days later his sister gets hit by a car that was stolen from California."

"There's no way the driver could have known it was Sara on that bike." Cath pointed out.

"We don't know that." Grissom corrected. "Have Archie go back over the tapes, see if it was possible that the accident was planned."

"Even if it was, why beat him up and mow her down?" Greg asked. Grissom pursed his lips, considering the evidence at hand.

"I'm not saying it's what happened." He conceded. "I'm just saying, hypothetically, it's possible."

"Okay." Catherine breathed. "Hypothetically, what about the parents?"

"We haven't managed to track them down yet." Jim answered, a dark look settling in his eyes. "Sofia's still looking."

Grissom tapped the photo of Jack's beaten and mangled body.

"Find out what you can about this case." He instructed to the group. "There might not be a link, but if there is we need to find it." He turned to leave.

"How are we going to do that?" Nick called after him. "As far as we know, Sara's accident was just that – an accident." Gil paused in the threshold, an exasperated look on his face.

"So follow the car." He explained slowly.

Nick and Warrick exchanged a look.

"Follow the car." Warrick repeated, gathering up his notes. "Come on Greg."

Once the boys left, Catherine turned to Brass. "So, where are we on her family?" She pressed. "There must be some record of them."

"Sofia's still checking. But," he paused, licking his lips. "Have you ever heard her talk about them?"

"No." Cath admitted sadly. "But there must be someone out there who cares about her."

"The important thing" Jim assured her softly, "is that there are people here who care about her."

X x x

"Where are we on results?" Grissom asked, shuffling into the DNA lab.

"Any minute now." Wendy replied, jumping to her feet. "There were no hits in CODIS so I'm running them through the other databases: military, work cards, international…"

The computer beeped, cutting off her rambling. She tapped a few keys, watched by an impatient Grissom. After what felt like an age, she released a sad sigh.

"No dice. Sorry."

"Don't apologise for doing your job." He mumbled, wandering around her to see the screen for himself.

"Anything else I can do?" She asked hopefully. She knew it wasn't her fault but she so desperately wanted to find something to help Sara. Grissom chewed on the inside of his cheek thoughtfully for a moment.

"Run a familial search." He decided at last. "Maybe we'll get something from mitochondrial DNA."

X x x

"I feel like there's more we should be doing, you know." Nick huffed, balling his fists at his side as the team made their way en mass through the maze of hospital corridors.

It was the end of shift and, after a quick team breakfast at Frank's, they'd stopped off to see Sara before going home to pretend to sleep. Catherine had been keeping in touch with Nancy all night, so they already knew that there'd been no change, but they wanted to see for themselves.

"There's nothing more we can do for her, Nicky." Grissom said matter-of-factly.

"Man, I don't know how you can be so calm." The Texan muttered, shaking his head in bemusement.

As they rounded a corner, a young male intern with unruly blonde hair tore down the hallway. They all moved to the side, allowing him to pass since he was clearly in a hurry. To their surprise he skidded to a halt in front of them.

"Miss Sidle's family?" He breathed.

"Oh God." Catherine swallowed, stepping back into Grissom. He placed his hands on her shoulders to steady her, fixing the doctor with a worried look.

"What's happened?"

"Nancy Flynn sent me to find you," the young man gasped, catching his breath back. Straightening up, he fixed them with a wide-eyed look and a unanimous feeling of dread swept over the team. "Miss Sidle's waking up."

X x x

Catherine was through the door so fast she nearly took it off its hinges.

"Nance?" She asked hopefully, her eyes seeking out Sara's face.

"She's fallen back to sleep." Nancy explained quietly, tucking the blanket around her patient.

"But she woke up?" Nick clarified, crashing into Catherine as he skidded through the door after her.

"Briefly. She was still drowsy, dropped back to sleep straight away."

"Did she say anything?" Cath asked, taking up residence at the side of the bed and stroking Sara's cheek with the back of her hand.

"She asked for you." Nancy pointed at her with a shrug, scribbling something in her notes. The older sister blinked, surprised.

"Me?"

"People in comas can sometimes hear things being said." Nancy explained, not in the slightest bit surprised. "She probably knew that you were here. You have been a permanent fixture since she arrived." The nurse added pointedly.

Cath felt a little flutter in her heart at the thought that Sara had sensed her presence. She turned her attention back to the girl, leaning close to her ear.

"Hey honey, wake up for me." She pleaded softly.

"There's a coffee in it for you." Greg added temptingly, resting his elbows on the back of the blonde's chair. "The good stuff, not the hospital crap." He paused, flicking his eyes up to Nancy. "No offence."

Nancy smiled.

"None taken." She cast her gaze over the team, all crowded around the bed like bodyguards. "She's on the mend. Keep that in mind." She attempted to assure them, although none of them seemed to hear her.

"Nancy?" A nurse poked her head into the room, doing a double take at the amassed group.

"Excuse me, guys." Nance said. She paused, stroking Sara's head affectionately. "If she wakes up again give me a shout."

Catherine hadn't even heard her leave, so fixated was she on her friend.

"We're here now sweetie, wake up." She mumbled sadly. "I can't believe we weren't here."

"Maybe we should have a rota." Greg suggested. "That way there'll always be a familiar face when she wakes up again."

"I'm up for that." Warrick agreed.

"And I bet the lab techs will take turns." Greg added hurriedly. "They've been asking when they can come and see her anyway."

Grissom nodded thoughtfully. Ecklie wouldn't like it – they were already a man down and nobody had done any other work in days. Then again, he didn't care what Ecklie thought.

"Just us for now." He decided. "When she's a bit stronger we'll get the techs in and I'll have Brass put the word out with the police, see if any of them can cover while we're on shift."

"Who should stay first?" Nick asked. All eyes automatically fell onto Catherine, who didn't even appear to be listening.

"Deal." She mumbled, never tearing her gaze from Sara's peaceful face.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey." Warrick called, jogging through the hallway.

"Hey," Nick echoed, slowing his pace so his mate could catch up.

"You on your way to the hospital?"

"Yeah, yeah." Nick stifled a yawn, zipping up his jacket as they made their way through the corridor towards the front doors. "Greg said she hasn't stirred yet."

"She will." Warrick assured him, slapping him on the back. "Give her a kiss from me."

"Yeah, will do." They started to move in their separate directions but Grissom, with his opportune timing, poked his head out of the layout room and collared them both.

"Guys, team meeting." He declared abruptly.

"I was just on my way to hospital." Nick pointed out, gesturing towards the parking lot as if it would assist his argument somehow.

"Brass swears this is important." Grissom insisted, disappearing back into the room. Nick gave Warrick a despairing look, to which the dark-skinned man could only shrug.

Someone cleared their throat, getting the boys' attention. They turned to find Wendy lurking behind them with a hopeful expression.

"I could go to the hospital instead, if you want?" She offered tentatively. "My shift's over and I'd love to see how she's doing."

Warrick gave Nick another shrug and followed Grissom into the lab, leaving it in the Texan's hands.

Nick considered the proposition for a moment before nodding his agreement.

"Yeah, okay. Thanks Wendy." He said. "I'll be there to take over as soon as I can. Call us if there's any change. Anything."

"I will." She nodded eagerly, already scuttling down the hall to grab her things. DNA might not be panning out for them, but at least now she would feel like she was doing something to help.

X x x

"What's the deal, Jim?" Nick asked impatiently. The team - bar Greg who was still on guard at Sara's side - was gathered around the light table, staring at the detective expectantly.

"Well, you're theory about the cases being connected might not be so crazy after all." Brass said cryptically, earning him a quirked eyebrow from Grissom.

"Wait, hold up." Nick interrupted, frustration growing behind his chocolate brown eyes. "We're still trying to trace who stole the car."

"I know. I'm not talking about the car." Brass said, turning to Sofia who was hovering behind him. The blonde stepped forward, producing a sheath of notes.

"I've been trying to track down a relative to contact, with little luck." She explained. "But I did get a hit off another open case from California." She tossed a photo onto the table. It was a blown up photocopy of a California driver's licence.

"William Sidle." Catherine read. "Another brother?"

"Yes." Sofia tucked her long hair behind her ear as she read from the folder. "William was in a traffic collision south of the Sequoia National Forest, just outside Bakersfield, California. Police are still tracing the other car involved."

"I bet I know where it is." Warrick muttered through gritted teeth. Grissom released a breath.

"Where's William's body?" He asked at last.

"Oh, he's still alive." Sofia answered. "He's in a coma in Bakersfield Memorial Hospital."

"Great." Catherine sighed. "Three siblings; one dead, two unconscious. There's no way that's a coincidence."

"That's why I called you." Brass agreed, resting his hands flat on the table.

"There's only one way to find out." Grissom pointed out. "When was William's accident?"

"Tuesday afternoon."

"Before Sara's accident." Nick said.

"And after Jack was beaten to death." Warrick added. "How far is Bakersfield from San Francisco?"

"280 miles." Sofia replied. "Driving, approximately 5 hours. And it's about the same from Bakersfield to Vegas." She added before anyone could ask.

"So, they would have easily had enough time to kill Jack, drive down to Bakersfield and then drive to Las Vegas." Catherine thought aloud. "But why? Why go to all the trouble?"

"That's what we have to find out." Grissom hummed. "What would we do if this was a serial killer case?"

"Find the commonalities to find a suspect." Catherine pursed her lips; she could sense where he was going with this and she didn't like it.

"What commonalities?" Jim frowned. "Two in California, one in Nevada. Two with a car, one with fists. One dead two alive."

"They have a surname in common." Grissom pointed out. "Let's start there. Trace their family."

"Griss, think about this – this is Sara we're talking about." Warrick scowled. "Should we really start digging through her past?"

Grissom flexed his hands impatiently.

"If it were any other victim, we'd look into their family." He stated coolly.

"But it's not just any other victim." Catherine interjected softly. "It's our Sara."

"I don't like this anymore then you do, but sometimes to go forward you have to go back." He explained. "Something or someone from their past has something to do with this."

"What family?" Nick asked agitatedly. "That's been the whole problem here. We don't know enough about Sara to trace her!"

Grissom, the epitome of calm in comparison to his colleague's tearful outburst, fixed him with a look.

"We know her name and her date of birth." He stated. "Start there. Parents' marriage certificates, kids birth certificates. Find out the background to their upbringing."

"I don't know." Warrick scrunched up his nose. "I don't like this."

"Then you take the car." Grissom instructed. "Call the Bakersfield Sherriff's Office, find out whether the car they're looking for is the one in our garage."

"I'll make some more calls; see what I can dig up about the parents." Sofia gathered her notes and strode out with him.

Catherine fixed Grissom with an uncertain look. "Gil, do you think this is fair?" she asked carefully. "I mean, Sara's our friend, our colleague. Should we really be the ones to pull her history apart? What if there's something she doesn't want us to know?"

"She has a point, boss." Nick chimed in. "Sara has always been protective of her privacy, isn't this a bit of an invasion?"

"Someone's already tried to kill her once. If we want to stop them from succeeding we need to do something." Gil emitted an irritated sigh. He hadn't expected his team to put up such a fight about this. "Do you have a better suggestion?" When neither responded to the challenge, he took it to mean they'd accepted it and nodded in finality.

"Okay." Nick shrugged reluctantly. "I'll go through the boys' cases and see what I can turn up."

"I'll try to track down their birth certificates." Catherine said. She picked up the photo, studying it carefully. This man appeared to have done better for himself than his brother. He was more fair-haired than Jack and Sara, but had deep hazel eyes and youthful features.

"Why does someone want them dead?" She asked sadly.

"That's what we're going to find out." Grissom promised her.

X x x

"Archie, what have you got for me?" Greg asked, clapping his hands together as he swung into the AV lab.

"Maybe something." The tech hummed, tapping a few keys hurriedly. The CCTV footage appeared on screen, frozen seconds before the crash. It was from a camera further down the road; the accident site was barely visible in the corner of the screen. "I tracked the car back to here–" he pointed to where the Honda was parked at the side of the road.

"It's not moving." Greg stated the obvious.

"No." Archie agreed, suddenly switching cameras. This time Sara's bike was visible approaching the corner. The lab rat zoomed in on a man on his cell phone. He was watching the road.

More specifically, he was watching Sara.

Getting the videos up side by side, he hit play. As soon as the man hung up, the driver set off at break-neck speed, cutting off another car in the process and accelerating towards the corner where he suddenly changed lanes.

Greg winced, instinctively turning away from the screen as the vehicles collided and his friend skidded down the road.

"He was waiting for her. And he had help." Archie summed up. "I'm still trying to get a shot of the guy on the phone's face.

"Grissom was right." Greg realised aloud. "This wasn't just an accident – it was a hit!"


	7. Chapter 7

**I've reworked this chapter today, so I hope you like it :) Let me know what you think**

**Also, big thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far :)**

**x x x x**

Wendy stretched, flexing her fingers. She was shattered, but she was determined to stay awake until Nick came to take over.

In the time she'd been here her mind had started to wander and she'd gotten curious as to the urgent meeting that had been called. Greg hadn't known anything about it and she daren't use her cell phone in here to find out what she'd missed, so she was left to ponder. There must have been a big development in the case; big enough to mess up their scheduled hospital rota anyway.

She was beginning to think that Nick had forgotten about her when a soft noise drew her attention to the bed.

Sara's eyes fluttered open and for a few seconds she just stared at Wendy, as if trying to recall the face looking back at her.

"Hey, hi." Wendy breathed, reaching for her hand.

"Where…" Sara mumbled, glancing at her surroundings. "What happened?"

Wendy pursed her lips, unsure of how much information she should divulge.

"You were in an accident." Wendy answered at last. "On your motorbike."

"My bike?" she repeated weakly, struggling to remember. "The guys…"

"They're at the lab." The tech assured her. "Everyone's been coming to see you."

"Catherine…" Sara had a vague recollection of hearing the blonde's voice nearby, begging her to wake up; but everything was foggy.

Wendy gripped her hand tighter. She'd prayed that Sara would wake up on her watch, but now her wish had come true she wasn't sure what to do. Nick's words drifted into her mind – she had to call him. But at the same time, could she leave Sara's side?

X x x

Nick groaned, running a hand over his cropped hair.

"I can't take this anymore." He complained in a frustrated voice to the empty lab.

He'd spent the last three hours going over Jack's case; witnesses, medical reports, tox reports. It was clear that Sara's brother was quite the drinker, and judging by his previous fractures he was something of a fighter too.

But there was nothing to suggest a car had been involved, there were no suspects and no witnesses to the crime itself. Not a single lead in the case.

Releasing a heavy sigh, he brushed the paperwork aside and opened William's file. Maybe he'd have more luck with brother number two.

Before he'd even read the first line, his cell phone trilled. Glancing briefly at the small screen, his heart skipped a beat.

"Wendy, hey," he breathed. "Is she alright?"

X x x

"Jack Donovan Sidle, born in San Francisco April 16th 1967." Catherine stated, placing a copy of the birth certificate on the table. "Three years later; William James, born December 3rd 1970." She placed a second piece of paper down and waited for Brass to ask the question she knew was coming.

Right on cue he looked up, a puzzled frown on his face.

"And Sara?" He pressed. The blonde released a breath.

"If there's a record of her birth, I can't find it."

Jim looked back down at the two birth certificates.

"Parents are listed as Laura and Angelo Sidle." He read. "I'll get that to Sofia; she's still trying to track them down."

"Well, good luck to her." Cath huffed. "Because there's something off about all this."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"This!" She gestured to the pieces of paper, frustration building in her features. "There's no record of Sara even being born! Her hospital records went walkabout. Her parents are MIA."

"Yeah, alright." He held his hands up, calming down the irate blonde. "We'll figure it out."

Suddenly Nick slammed into the doorframe.

"Cath," he gasped breathlessly. "Wendy just called – Sara's awake!"

X x x

Sara turned, a weak smile gracing her bruised face.

"Hi." She whispered, attempting to shuffle into a more upright position until a firm hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Lay still." Nancy instructed gently.

Wendy moved to the side, allowing Catherine to take her place at the bedside. Resisting the urge to drag her into a fierce hug, she tentatively reached out a hand to stroke the back of Sara's cheek.

"Hey, sweetie." She grinned. "How do you feel?"

"I'm okay." The girl mumbled, leaning into her touch. "Sore."

"You gave us one hell of a fright, girl." Warrick said, leaning around Cath to place a kiss on her forehead.

"So I'm told." She blinked tiredly, struggling to keep her eyes open as she searched the faces in the room. "Where's Grissom?"

The others turned, surprised to realise that they'd lost the supervisor en route.

"He'll catch us up." Catherine decided at last. "Anyway, what are you doing cavorting about on a motorbike missus?"

"I don't think she's up for a lecture just yet, Cathy." Nancy warned with badly hidden amusement. Cath raised an eyebrow at her but let it drop. For now.

"I think someone needs more sleep." Nick laughed, but Sara was way ahead of him. Catherine smiled softly, gently guiding her hand back out from beneath Sara's head.

"She's okay?" She asked of her sister. Nancy pursed her lips.

"Don't get ahead of yourself." She answered carefully. "She's still in a serious condition."

"But she's waking up, so that's a good sign…right?" Nick asked hopefully, one arm slung carelessly around Wendy's shoulder.

"It's not a bad thing." She agreed. "But she still has a long way to go."

As she spoke, she was aware that the team weren't taking in a word; too engrossed in watching their stricken friend sleep.

X x x

"So this is where you're hiding." Catherine noted, having finally hunted Grissom down.

He looked up, exhaustion clouding his eyes.

"I don't know what to say to her." He admitted quietly. She sank down onto the bench beside him.

"What about; how are you? Do you need anything?" She suggested with a coy smile. When he didn't respond she nudged him gently, trying to prise something out of him.

"I think you guys were right." He confessed, shaking his head in loss. "We shouldn't be pulling her past apart like this."

"It's a bit late for that." She pointed out. "Look, I don't like it either. But you said it; how else are we going to solve this mess?"

"I know." He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. It was, she realised, the first time in days that he had shown any sign of the stress eating him up. "How is she?"

"She's fallen back to sleep." Cath assured him. "She asked after you."

"Does she know?" He asked, trying to ignore the twinge of guilt in his chest at not being there for her. "About her brothers?"

Catherine shook her head, biting her bottom lip. "No, I don't think upsetting her is going to help her recovery." She ran a hand through her hair, her fingers tangling in the waves. "Maybe when she's a bit stronger."

They lapsed into silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Finally Grissom raised his head.

"Ecklie collared me before we left." He sighed.

"Oh, what did he want?"

"He says since we're already short-staffed we're going to have to get on top of the backlogged cases."

"Well, I have been expecting that." She hummed. "We'll manage. We can take a case each; as long as there's nothing major we can get through them and still work this case."

"Yeah." The man agreed half-heartedly. "Where are the boys?"

"They wanted a few more minutes with her." She nodded in the direction of the room. "I think we're going to have to prise Greg from the bedpost." They shared a laugh; Grissom shook his head slowly.

"She's going to be alright, isn't she?" He asked with a concentrated frown.

"Yeah." She answered slowly, trying to read his features. "Of course."

"I mean, about her family…she's okay." He stumbled over his words, trying to figure out what he was trying to say. He would be the first to admit that he was not good at expressing his inner-most thoughts; and no one knew that better than the woman sat beside him. "No matter what we find out, she'll be okay. Because…she's got us." Catherine smiled warmly at her old friend.

"Yeah. She does."


	8. Chapter 8

**Not 100% happy with this chapter but I hope you enjoy anyway. Let me know what you think :) **

**x x x x**

"This is weird." Nancy muttered to herself.

"What?" Catherine asked, absently running her fingers through the strands of hair that had gotten loose from the bandage around Sara's head.

"We tracked down her records…"

"Yeah, I know." Cath interrupted with a gloomy sigh. "DNR and all."

"Yeah, but there's something missing." The nurse continued, still flicking through the notes with a concentrated frown; as if the information would magically reappear if she kept looking for it.

"Like what?" Cath finally turned to her sister, resting her elbow on the mattress to prop her head up.

"Like the first 18 years of her life."

"Seriously?"

Catherine pushed herself off the chair and walked over to see for herself, peering over her sibling's shoulder.

"Seriously. There's nothing prior to 1991."

Catherine quirked an eyebrow at her suspiciously. "And you're only discovering this now?" She queried.

"I do have other patients you know." Nancy gave her a disparaging look. "I don't have time to go through the details of everyone straight away.

Blatantly ignoring her mini-rant, Cath wandered back to the bed and took Sara's hand between her own.

"I'll look into it." She assured her sister. "Nothing about this case makes any sense."

"What do you mean?" Nancy softened her tone, perching on the arm of Catherine's chair.

"Aside from her medical records going walkabout; we can't trace her parents, we have no apparent motive for someone wanting these siblings dead, we have no suspect and I can't find a birth certificate for Sara."

Nancy had been nodding along as she listened to the list, but she froze on the last point.

"No birth certificate?" She repeated thoughtfully, pushing herself off the chair. "Give me a minute."

Catherine waved a hand dismissively, barely noticing.

"Take your time." She murmured. "It's not like we're going anywhere."

X x x

"So, Sofia managed to track down the parents." Brass began, placing his hands flat on the table. "And I'm warning you, it's not pretty."

"How's that?" Warrick asked, a frown marring his features. Brass opened the file he'd brought with him, clearing his throat as if preparing to make a press statement.

"Angelo Sidle and Laura Halliwell." He began. "Married November 1966."

"Five months before Jack was born." Catherine noted, pursing her lips. "Three guesses why they got married."

The detective released a soft chuckle but he sobered up abruptly before continuing.

"They married in San Francisco and moved to Tomales Bay in 1973. In 1975 they opened a bed and breakfast."

"Motel by the beach." Warrick hummed. "Sounds like a nice life."

"Not even close." Sofia announced her presence, wandering into the layout room. "Angelo was a violent man and by all accounts they had a volatile marriage." She produced his rap sheet, holding it out to the dark-skinned man. "Assaults, drunk and disorderly's, gambling debts, aggravated assault." She listed, her voice growing darker with each one. "I checked with Bodega Bay Police Department, who control Tomales Bay – Laura phoned them on her husband at least once a week but always withdrew her complaint."

"Domestic abuse." Nick scowled.

"No doubt." Sofia agreed softly. "In 1974 social services got involved because," she paused, flicking to another page and taking a deep breath. "According to witness reports Angelo 'snatched Sara from her cot by the wrist with enough force to break her arm in two'."

There was a unanimous wince from the group.

"Did they file a report?" Catherine asked quietly, her gaze glued to the table.

"Yes, but nothing ever came of it." Sofia sighed, slamming the folder shut. "Not until one rainy night in April 1982."

Brass cleared his throat, swiftly taking over. Everyone was staring at him with cocked eyebrows. This was one of those situations where you start to wish you hadn't asked.

"Laura Sidle worked as a lounge singer and waitress at a local bar." He explained, a peculiar softness to his voice that the team were unfamiliar with in the gruff detective. "One night she came home in the middle of the night, checked on the children … then grabbed a knife from the kitchen drawer and stabbed her sleeping husband eleven times in the chest."

"Oh God." Cath murmured, pushing herself away from the table. Warrick reached out to grab her but she shrugged him off, preferring to pace.

"Battered woman's syndrome." Grissom hypothesized, eyeing the strawberry-blonde across the room with silent concern.

"Partly." Sofia agreed. "Laura was detained in a psychiatric unit where she was diagnosed schizophrenic. She was found mentally unfit to stand trial until two years later."

"But they did proceed with a trial?"

"Angelo's family pressed for a conviction." Brass nodded. "Pity they weren't so bothered about family where the kids were concerned."

"So, where's Laura now?" Catherine asked, finally halting her fidgeting.

"She was incarcerated in Patton State Hospital for seven years; she attempted suicide several times and was placed on suicide watch, but ultimately she wasn't considered a threat to anyone else. She was released in 1992."

"Do we know where to?" Grissom pressed. Sofia scanned the document, locating the information she needed. "Last known residence was an address in Pacifica, California belonging to a Penelope Halliwell."

"Her mother." Cath answered the unasked question. "She died two years ago."

"Yeah. And Laura dropped off the map." Brass surmised, cracking his knuckles with frustration.

"Maybe," Warrick posited darkly, "she went to find her children?"

X x x

"Hey Grissom!" Greg called, sprinting down the winding corridor to catch his boss up. "I got something for you." He thrust a piece of paper into Gil's hand. It was an old newspaper article from 1984 – the headline was about Laura's sentence being passed and there was a photo of a dark-haired man with a sun-weathered face and a triumphant grin.

"Brass said Angelo's family pushed for a conviction, so I searched for the news story – found a name." Greg explained.

"Rocco Sidle." Grissom read from the caption.

"Angelo's brother." The young man continued. "He went on a rampage, flooded the media with news of the case in order to get a trial. According to some reports he even tried to get the kids to say - on oath - that Laura had been the abusive one."

"Good, call Brass and have him brought in." Grissom handed the article back and set off towards his office, but Greg's voice halted his movements.

"Way ahead of you. He's on his way here." Gil raised an impressed eyebrow at his youngest guy's speedy work.

"Good." He hummed. "Maybe Uncle Rocco can explain why someone's trying to kill his family."

X x x

"Sidle … that's not very Italian." Jim pointed out, slurping a mouthful of his coffee.

"My grandfather was Irish." The man snapped. "What the hell's all this got to do with mi nipote?"

The detective frowned at the sudden switch in language but internally shrugged it off. He slammed a photo down on the table – a police file photo of Angelo Sidle.

"My brother was not a monster." He insisted. "He was a good, caring family man."

Rocco Sidle was a well-built bloke with a thick Italian accent and a temperament to match. He folded his arms across his chest, narrowing his dark eyes as if daring the detective to challenge the assertion.

"He beat his kids." Brass retorted, rising to it. "He raped his wife."

"His wife got what was coming to her." Rocco scoffed. "And the kids, those kids got what they needed. They were brats. Always making trouble. So yeah, he gave them a smack occasionally."

"A smack?" Catherine repeated insolently, sliding into the seat next to Brass. "He snapped Sara's arm in two places."

"If he did that then it was only because she deserved it!" Rocco spat callously.

"She was 10-months old!" Catherine said through gritted teeth. "What could she have possibly done to deserve that!"

Even if he'd had an answer to that, he wouldn't have had chance to offer it; the blonde wasn't finished with him yet. She flicked through the pages of Sara's social services file.

"When she was two he broke half a dozen of her ribs. At five he dislocated her shoulder. Skull fractures, broken bones, bruises – when she was twenty weeks old he dislocated her hip." She paused, glaring darkly at the man from beneath her lashes. "Twenty weeks. Four months."

"At that age, I barely dared hold my daughter in case I hurt her – she was so delicate." Brass growled, narrowing his eyes. "Now, how could a 'good, caring family man' pick up a four month old girl and twist her bones like that?"

"She's your niece." Grissom pointed out when he didn't answer, pushing himself off the wall. Rocco blinked; he hadn't noticed the other man lurking in the shadows; until now Grissom had been merely observing from the corner. "Those boys are your nephews. Did you not think something was wrong when every time you saw them they were hurt?"

"What's wrong is that my brother is being persecuted even after his death." Rocco snarled. "That bitch killed my brother and she got away with it."

"She was put in a psychiatric ward." Catherine corrected. "Because of an illness that _your brother_ probably caused." She paused, tilting her head to the side curiously. "But that wasn't enough for you, was it?"

"You wanted blood for your brother's death." Jim followed her lead. "And the courts weren't going to give you that. So, what? You decided to take it into your own hands."

Rocco glowered at him, but said nothing as the detective posited the events.

"So, you meet your nephew in a bar – I bet it wasn't too hard to find out where he hung out, huh – you beat him up. Then you steal a car, track William down. Did you call him? Arrange to meet him?" Jim asked, but the man was not giving anything away behind his unreadable black eyes.

"You waited for him to turn up, then you slam the car into his and put him in intensive care." Grissom continued. "And that just left one more."

They slid a photo of Sara towards him; it had been taken in the hospital after she'd first been brought in, when her injuries were at their worst. For the first time, Rocco flinched.

"I didn't do this." He hissed, nudging the picture away from him.

"You wanted to get back at Laura for killing your brother." Catherine said quietly. "So, you take away the most important thing to a mother: her children."

"But you made one mistake, pal." Brass said, thrusting the photo back at him; forcing him to see it. "You see, she's ours. And you tried to take her away from us. And you know something Rocco, that makes us mad."

"But you slipped up." Catherine continued. "Sara's awake. And she's going to tell us everything we need to know."

"I didn't hurt them!" He erupted, slamming his hands on the table. "Those kids, they're my family too. I wouldn't hurt them." He picked the photo up, tracing it gently with his finger. "I want to see Sara." He said at last.

"That's not going to happen." Jim replied coolly.

"I want to see my niece." Rocco demanded, pushing himself out of his seat with enough force to tip it over.

"It's a bit late to play the doting uncle now." Cath spat, stalking to the door.

"You can't keep me from her." Rocco hollered after them.

"Yes, we can." Grissom countered calmly. "But don't worry, she's in good hands – she's with her family."


	9. Chapter 9

**Getting darker now. Thoughts? x**

**x x x x**

There was blood. A lot of blood.

Along with enough whiskey bottles to fill a Jim Beam distillery.

The house was filthy. The fridge was empty.

And the children were traumatised.

Catherine swallowed hard, shaking her tears away.

"Hey," Warrick's smooth voice infiltrated her thoughts and she looked up, hurriedly wiping at her eyes.

"Hey." She parroted as coolly as she could.

"What are you doing?" He asked, joining her at the bench. Casting a glance at her face, he noticed her watery eyes and quivering lower lip. "Hey, you alright?" He asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her against his body.

She shook her head, gesturing to the documents she had been working on.

"I've been, uh …" she stuttered feebly before taking a deep breath and starting again. "Bodega Bay police department faxed over the case file for Angelo's Sidle's murder. I've been going through it." She nudged a photo towards him and he found himself suddenly faced with the hauntingly familiar, sad gaze of a blood-soaked little girl.

"Oh man." He recoiled with a gasp.

"They found her in a closet." Cath murmured, purposefully avoiding letting her eyes stray to the image. "The blood belongs to Angelo's. She probably tried to wake him up and when she couldn't…"

"She hid." Warrick finished her sentiments. "Oh, Sara." He scrutinised the picture for a moment, as if trying to memorize every innocent feature. "How old was she?" He asked at last, his voice suddenly hoarse.

"Nine."

Warrick whistled, his gaze falling onto the other photos scattered across the table. "My God." He muttered, picking one in particular up. It was a shot of the couch, with a deep red stain on the back cushions. He knew that Angelo had died in bed, so…

"Whose blood was this?"

"They didn't have DNA back then, but witness testimony suggests it was Jack's." Catherine replied. "He'd had a fist fight with Angelo the night he died. He had fresh bruises and a bloody nose when he was taken to hospital."

"So, all the kids were taken into care?" The dark-skinned man changed the subject, tossing the photo aside. "Where they at least kept together?"

"No." Catherine sighed, rifling through her paperwork. "Sara and William were both placed in foster homes in San Francisco. Jack was taken to Montessori Children's home."

"Damn. Couldn't even give them that." Warrick ground his teeth. "What the hell did these kids do to deserve this life?"

Catherine released a breath, dropping heavily into a seat.

"Rick, I've been asking myself that all week."

X x x

"I Know, I know." Brass held his hands up defensively. "I want to get the bastard as much as you do. But without something concrete to hold him on, I have to let him go."

"He's the only one with any motive for wanting these kids dead." Grissom insisted, his frustration growing with every footstep down the hall.

"The only one we know of." Jim corrected. "He has two other brothers and four sisters – any one of whom could have been behind the wheel of that car."

Grissom shook his head.

"It took a man to do the kind of damage needed to kill Jack." He frowned. "And we already know from interrogation that Rocco has anger issues."

"A bad temper is not grounds to hold somebody for attempted murder." Jim shrugged, coming to a halt in the entrance to his office. "Find me something substantial or I'm going to have to let him go."

X x x

"So, the hospital finally managed to track down the first half of Sara's medical file." Catherine announced, tossing it onto the table. "Reads like you'd expect, multiple breaks, fractures, bruises." She sniffed. "Doc Robbins is looking over some x-rays that were in there."

As she spoke a distinctive clicking sound drifted down the hall and a moment later the coroner wandered in, nodding to the group in greeting.

"Sounds like I've arrived on time." He announced, slotting between them around the table. He cast a glance at Catherine's face – she'd been on the verge of tears when she'd stopped by his office and didn't appear to have improved in the interim, but he opted to leave it for now. He produced said x-rays, lining them up on the light table for all to see.

"The night her father died she was taken to hospital before being taken to a foster home." He began. "They found no recent injuries but she did have two separate unhealed fractures to her right arm and fifth rib on the right side."

"How old were they?" Gil asked, leaning across the table to get a better look.

"Anywhere between two weeks and a month. Possibly two separate events."

"Damn, that had to hurt." Warrick winced.

"I'm afraid so." The coroner breathed. "And I'm going to take a guess that if they didn't care enough to take her to hospital, they probably didn't give her anything for the pain either."

"No, the son of a bitch was probably too busy self-medicating with liquid pain relief." Jim growled.

"What about the other x-rays?" Catherine asked in a blatant attempt to change the subject.

Albert pointed to another, this time of a much smaller skeleton.

"These were in her social services file. She was two years old when they were taken."

"Her ribs are completely smashed." Gil noted. Doc leaned closer, gesturing to specific areas as he explained them.

"The position of her injuries suggests she was on her back when the attack started and rolled defensively onto her right side."

"So, what? Kicked?" Greg asked, speaking up for the first time. His face was white, but his voice was cold with barely restrained anger.

"More likely stomped." Doc clarified quietly. "Although she came out of this one the better off actually." He continued, clearing his throat. "Her brother, Jack, was also taken to hospital that night. He had a serious skull fracture and a broken arm."

"How the hell were they not taken into care?" Nick snarled, disgusted.

"According to the report, the parents claimed that Jack was responsible for Sara's injuries and that his injuries were sustained by Angelo fighting him to protect his daughter."

"That's sick - the boy was eight!" Warrick shook his head. "He beat his son and then attacked his daughter to cover it up."

"Or he attacked Sara and Jack got hurt trying to protect his baby sister." Doc offered. He wasn't sure which he'd rather believe; the result was still the same.

"Either way, it doesn't sound like his death was any great loss." Nick spat.

"Nicky." Grissom chastised softly.

"What?" The Texan barked, pushing himself away from the table. "You're not seriously going to defend him after what he did to Sara?"

"Of course not." Grissom assured him in a calm voice. "But getting angry at a dead man is not going to help us figure this out."

"Well who the hell am I supposed to get angry with?" He exploded. "She's lying in a hospital bed, bruised and broken because of this!" In a fit of rage, he swept the folders and x-rays off the table. They scattered across the floor and into the hallway.

Warrick caught him around the middle, pinning his arm behind his back.

"Easy buddy, calm down." He hushed, but Nick continued to fight him as best he could in his restrained position.

"Get off me man!" He hollered, struggling against the taller man.

"Nick, go cool off." Grissom instructed a little harsher than he was intending.

"Come on, Nicky." Warrick hauled him towards the door, but Nick finally shrugged his friend off and stalked out of the room, punching the door on his way.

Passing him in the doorway, Sofia watched him go with a frown.

"Everything okay?" She queried.

"Do you have something?" Grissom asked tiredly, ignoring the question. She took a deep breath, pursing her lips.

"Yeah, but you're not going to like it."

X x x

Catherine watched Nick from the door for a moment before clearing her throat, gaining his attention.

"You should put some ice on that." She observed. He looked down at the swollen hand cradled in his lap.

"It's fine." He shrugged. "My own fault."

"I don't blame you for getting angry, Nick." She assured the young man, joining him on the couch. "I'm angry too. I want to find out who's responsible and put a bullet between their eyes."

He laughed softly, nodding in agreement.

"I love Sara too, Nick." She continued compassionately. "I love that girl more than the world, we all do. And we're going to do what it takes to figure out this mess. But you need to keep your cool."

"I can't." He said between gritted teeth. "I just can't, not knowing what she went through."

"You have to." She countered sternly. "Sofia just got off the phone with Bakersfield Police." She paused, pinning her lower lip between her teeth anxiously; bracing herself for breaking the news. "William died this afternoon."

Nick looked up, devastation crossing his features.

"Oh, man." He whispered, running a hand through his hair.

"So, you see-" Cath continued gripping his arm. "Sara's lost both of her big brothers this week. She needs you, and Warrick and Greg." She inched closer on the couch, allowing her to slip an arm around his muscular shoulders. "She needs her brothers to stay strong for her. We're all she's got left Nick."

That seemed to get through to him. Finally he met her gaze, tears building in his eyes. He wiped them away with his sleeve and nodded definitively.

"Where do you need me?"

She smiled warmly. "You're with me." She said. "We need to prove whether or not Rocco Sidle had anything to do with this."


	10. Chapter 10

**Took longer to get this up, but its extra long and Cara-heavy to make up for it :) **

**x x x x**

To Catherine's surprise as she slid through the door to Sara's room, sleeping beauty wasn't alone.

The nurse; armed with a sponge, a bottle of lotion and a roll of fresh bandages, turned with a stern expression at the sudden intrusion to her work.

"Who are you?" She barked harshly. "You can't come in here."

"I'm a friend." Cath explained, slightly taken aback at the abrupt order. "We work together."

"You shouldn't be here." The nurse reiterated, although at the sight of Catherine's ID badge clipped to her jacket she decided not to press the issue and continued in her mission to sand Sara's delicate skin off.

Catherine frowned at the rough treatment of her colleague, taking up a seat on the opposite side of the bed. She scrutinised the unfamiliar nurse carefully; she was older and wearing a stark white uniform in contrast to the faded pink of the ER nurses.

Catherine knew that she was right; she had clearly walked in on an intimate procedure of sorts – in order to prevent sores developing on her already sensitive skin, Sara needed regular application of moisturiser. Soon she would be able to move around more and this would become unnecessary, but in the meantime they would need to keep doing this. Catherine probably should afford her some privacy and leave the nurse to it. But quite frankly, she didn't care. Sara was her friend; if the situation called for it, Cath would do this for her.

In fact…

"You know," she drawled, picking up Sara's hand and idly drawing circles on the back of it. "My sister's a nurse here."

"Really." The woman grunted; she clearly couldn't give a monkeys but Cath was going somewhere with this.

"Yeah. Nancy Flynn." She waited for any sign of recognition, but receiving none she continued. "Anyway, I know how busy you guys are here. Nance never gets a minutes peace."

The nurse paused long enough to send Catherine a contemptuous look.

"That's the job." She snapped, going back to scrubbing Sara's chest before slathering it in the lotion. It looked like milk. If Sara were awake she would be writhing with discomfort right now.

"I know." She conceded, changing tack slightly. "I just meant there's always something more pressing needing to be done …. So, since you probably have a lot to do, I could finish this for you..."

This time the look she received bordered on incredulous.

"Are you trained?"

Catherine blinked, barely resisting the urge to retort with 'trained to use a sponge?'

Thankfully, she was saved from answering at all by the arrival of another nurse who Cath recognised instantly as Carol Hathaway. She vaguely remembered meeting her at one of Nancy's barbeques a year or two ago. She was the head ER nurse, if memory served correct.

"Sterling," Carol barked at the nurse. "You're needed in the ER."

"I'm busy." Nurse Sterling retorted coolly, not even turning to acknowledge her colleague. Carol didn't seem impressed by the response and opened her mouth to vocalise her displeasure when Catherine seized her opportunity and jumped in.

"Carol, hi." She chirped, as if they were old friends.

The nurse looked up, noticing the CSI for the first time and narrowed her eyes as she tried to place the face.

"Catherine – Nancy's sister." She said uncertainly at last.

"That's right." Cath smiled brightly.

To the growing chagrin of nurse Sterling, Carol wandered over and leant casually against the end of the bed.

"How's she doing?" She asked of the dozing patient.

"She's okay." Cath shrugged, absently helping herself to the lotion and tenderly massaging it into Sara's arm, an action which only served to further piss off the older woman. "I just came to see if she needed anything." Carol pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"Well you seem to know what you're doing." She commented. "Would you mind taking over?"

Nurse Sterling looked up, an insulted scowl on her face. "I can manage." She snapped.

"I need you." Carol retorted, sending Catherine a hopeful look.

"I don't mind." She replied with a sweet smile. "I'll gladly take over. Anything to help Sara."

"You're a saint." Carol grinned, nodding for her co-worker to follow her. After an irritated sigh the older woman tossed the cloth down and flounced out, letting the door slam behind her.

Alone, Catherine picked up where she had left off.

"I know, I know." She muttered to the sleeping Sara. "You're going to be pissed with me. But I don't care." She dropped a kiss onto her cheek. "I can't fix you but I can make you feel better."

X x x

"Do you want the bad news or the worse news?"

Grissom looked up from his mound of paperwork, analysing Brass' face for a moment.

"Bad." He decided at last.

Jim pushed himself off the doorframe and wandered over, dropping into the chair in front of the desk.

"Uncle Rocco has an alibi for Sara's accident."

"What?" Grissom took off his glasses and fixed his friend with a weary look. "A credible one?"

"Oh yeah. Nick found CCTV footage of him at the Tangiers bar at the time of the accident." He explained, producing a still image of the Italian downing a shot of whiskey. "There's no way he was behind the wheel of the car."

"That doesn't mean he isn't involved." Grissom pointed out. "Get his phone records and see if he's made any interesting calls recently."

Jim released a heavy sigh, a sound which made the CSI's heart sink.

"I've already tried. His main address is in Italy, he's only in America on business. And the only calls on his cell phone are to his office and his clients."

"Damn." Grissom huffed, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"In case you were wondering," Brass interjected softly. "That was the worse news."

X x x

"Hey," Nancy greeted suspiciously, sliding into the room. "Carol said you were here. What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Catherine asked lazily. Nancy pursed her lips, acknowledging the comment with a soft chuckle.

"Okay, why are you grooming your colleague?" She rephrased. Cath sent her a sideways smile.

"I offered and they agreed." She half-lied.

"Who is they?"

"Carol and Nurse Ratchet." At Nancy's raised eyebrow, she offered a vague description.

"Late fifties, reddish hair, surly… Sterling?"

"Ah." Nancy smiled tightly, nodding in understanding. "Nurse Rhonda Sterling. She's not actually an ER nurse; she was floated down from another ward because we're short staffed."

"Well, maybe you should float her back and ask for one with a better beside manner." Cath huffed. "She may as well have taken a cheese grater to her skin." She gestured to the broken arm she was delicately redressing.

"I'll pass the message on."

As she finished her work, Nancy helped her refasten the gown and then watched as her big sister tucked the blanket around Sara with the loving attention of a mother.

"I just want her to wake up again – properly." Cath moped sadly, dropping back into her seat. "I want to see her smile, to talk to her. Any sign that she's going to get through this."

"She'll wake up in her own time." Nancy assured her. "Talk to her, let her know you're here. You'll be surprised how much it helps." She patted her sister's shoulder and drifted back to the door. For a moment she just watched as Cath stroked Sara's cheek with the back of her fingers.

"Hey sweetie." Catherine mumbled at last, picking up her hand. "We're still working on it I promise. We're going to find out who did this." She paused, doodling patterns on the inside of her wrist with the pad of her thumb. "I know you'd kill us if you knew what we're doing, but we're going to find out who's trying to hurt you."

Absently, she picked up a comb and began running it through Sara's hair. Most of it had escaped from the bandage now and was spilling across the pillow; a fan of chocolate brown waves. She continued to talk; about Lindsey, about the boys, all the while running her hands through the locks. As she did so she couldn't help the images of Sara's brothers seeping into her mind.

Jack's hair had been a mess when he'd been found; tangled and greasy. But she imagined with a little TLC it would have been like Sara's – dark and smooth and silky to the touch. William, on the other hand, had lighter brown hair which had been carefully styled and fell around his face in sleek waves. He had a pretty face and warm hazel eyes.

Much like Sara.

As she pondered this likeness, she found herself staring at an identical pair of confused eyes.

"Hey, you're awake." She blurted out, instantly reaching for her hand again.

"Hi." Sara mumbled, attempting to sit up. Catherine held her still, gently pressing down on her shoulders.

"Hey, don't try to move. You're badly hurt." She instructed. Sara obligingly sank back into the cushions, but her gaze landed on the tray with the bowl of warm water and various other assorted items. She flicked her gaze to Catherine's face, suspicion clouding her features.

"What were you doing?" She asked, suddenly more awake. Catherine realised what she was asking and a coy smile spread across her lips.

"Why? You going shy on me?" she teased.

"Don't most hospitals have nurses who do that sort of thing?" Sara asked awkwardly, shuffling as best her injuries would allow.

"You had a nurse." Cath agreed, waving a disregarding hand at the comment. "I didn't like her bedside manner."

"So you … took over?" Sara clarified, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yes." Cath agreed calmly, dragging her fingers through Sara's hair again. "She was hurting you." She scowled petulantly, a look that Sara just couldn't stay mad at no matter how much of an invasion of her privacy it was. As if reading her mind, Catherine smiled. "What? You don't trust me?"

Sara let the question slide, changing the subject.

"Where are the boys?"

"They're at work." Cat answered. "I just stopped by on my break…" she glanced at her watch. "Which finished two hours ago."

Sara laughed, but the effort hurt her ribs and caused a sudden tight burning sensation in her lungs. Cath placed a hand on her chest and rubbed gentle circles until her breathing evened out.

"Take it easy. Deep breaths." She hushed. "You're not out of the woods yet."

Taking slow, calming breaths, Sara settled down at last. She closed her eyes as the effort of recovering from her unexpected attack took its toll on her body and she lapsed into silence, contemplating her situation. Catherine thought she'd fallen back to sleep and began playing with her loose curls again until a soft voice caught her attention.

"Catherine?"

"Yeah, honey?" She hummed.

"What happened to my bike?"

Catherine laughed, shaking her head at the earnest look in her friend's eyes.

"Never mind about the bike." She bristled. "Let's worry about getting you fixed first!"

"It's broken isn't it?" Sara asked sadly. Catherine softened her gaze, but still couldn't hide her smile at the brunette's upset over a piece of metal.

"Let's just say you came off better." She acknowledged, giving her a meaningful once-over. "And that's saying something."

It suddenly dawned on her that Sara was still unaware of the death of her brothers. She briefly considered breaking the news to her now, but decided if she was this torn up over the loss of her bike then the news might be too much for her to bear.

Sara must have noticed her inner turmoil because she reached out a hand to get her attention and queried the frown with one of her own.

"Nothing babe." Cath assured her, instantly realising her mistake. Sure enough, Sara scowled at the use of the pet name.

"Now I know you're hiding something." She persisted. Cath attempted to laugh it off but Sara continued to stare her out until she broke.

"It's …" she paused. "Alright, there might be something we're not telling you." She admitted. "But there's a reason for that."

"What?" Sara pressed, trying to twist in order to better see her.

"Look, it's not going to change anything and it can wait until you're feeling better." The blonde promised. "Just let us worry about it for now. When you're stronger, then you can join in."

Sara gave her a sceptical look but accepted the answer, for now.

"Good girl." Catherine hummed, placing a kiss on her forehead. "We're doing what's best for you, trust me."

"I trust you." Sara murmured, tipping her head to the side so it rested against Catherine's chest.

It was only on her way back to the lab that Catherine realised Sara had answered two questions in one.

X x x

"We're still looking into the rest of the family." Nick answered. "Rocco came from a big family, but most of them are still in Italy."

"What about this 'business trip'?" Warrick inquired. "That's kind of convenient don't you think?"

"He works for Maserati. He's over here making some sales with several dealerships." The Texan explained. "And guess where those dealerships are based?"

"California and Nevada?" Grissom cocked an eyebrow.

"So, he had motive, opportunity and know how." Catherine interjected. "He works with cars, I bet he would know how to steal one."

"But he has an alibi." Greg pointed out.

"Of course he does." Warrick snorted. "Slick dude like him, he's got someone else doing his dirty work."

"At least two of them." Nick added as an afterthought. "We know that from the CCTV cameras."

"And to hire someone for a job like that would require a lot of trust, don't you think." Grissom posited thoughtfully. "And who would you trust more than your family?"

"I'll work with Sofia, start building up a family tree." Greg offered.

"Good." Grissom nodded at the youngest criminalist. "Catherine, you and Warrick go back to the hospital and see what information you can get from Sara about her father's family." He instructed. "But don't let on as to why."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Warrick asked, sharing an incredulous look with the strawberry-blonde. "She'll be onto us like a shot."

"Make something up." Gil shrugged unhelpfully. "Nick, check and see whether Rocco has an alibi for the other two incidents."

"I'm on it." He nodded.

"What are you doing?" Cath asked. The boss released a heavy sigh. "Someone has to solve the other cases in this city. You guys can handle this – just keep me in the loop."

X x x

"Back so soon?" Carol asked, nodding in greeting at Cath as the CSIs made their way towards Sara's room.

Warrick's hand barely made contact with the door handle when Nancy jumped out of nowhere, purposefully slotting herself between them and Sara's room.

"I'm sorry guys, I can't let you in."

"Why?" Catherine asked, panic creeping into her voice. "What's happened?"

Nancy took her sister's arm and led them away but Cath broke free from her grip.

"I was going to call you …" The nurse began tentatively. "I'm afraid you can't visit her at the moment."

"Is she alright?" Warrick asked hurriedly.

"She's fine." Nance assured them. "She's still awake. Her uncle's with her."

"Rocco?" Cath exploded, her blue eyes widening impossibly. She made a sudden burst for the door but Nancy was quicker and grabbed her by the back of her jacket.

"Cath … he's signed a form forbidding us to allow anyone other than direct family into her room."

"We are her family!"

"Not in the eyes of the hospital you're not."

Catherine and Warrick stared at her, devastation creeping into their faces.

"I'm sorry." Nancy shrugged helplessly, genuinely sad at what she was having to do. "I don't have a choice. I can't let you see her."


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks for all the reviews, glad you're enjoying it so far. A few more plot twists to come! **

**x x x x**

"You've got to get him out of there!" Catherine barked hysterically, gesturing wildly towards the forbidden room.

"He's family Cathy," Nancy reasoned. "I can't evict him from his sick niece's bedside."

"Can he even do that?" Warrick asked sceptically as Cath paced frantically beside him. "Can he actually ban us from seeing her?"

"Apparently so." Nancy inhaled deeply, throwing her hands up. "I've never come across it myself but that's what my boss says."

"But he doesn't have power of attorney." Catherine pointed out. "Surely he can't…"

"The person with legal power of attorney died two years go." Nancy reminded her sister. "So, technically no one has it. But he is direct family and apparently if he has reasonable grounds to believe that the police's presence is hindering his niece's recovery then he can ban you from talking to her."

"We're not visiting her in a professional capacity." Catherine scoffed, shaking her head. "She's our friend; what right does he have to tell us we can't see her?" Nancy quirked an eyebrow at their ID badges and notepads.

"Why are you back so soon tonight?" She asked pointedly. Cath faltered slightly at the question but recovered quickly to answer.

"Alright, tonight we were coming to ask her some questions." She conceded. "But we were coming to ask about him – which is why you can't leave her alone with him! He might be involved."

"Involved how?" The nurse asked, intrigued. If they were right, it would be grounds to lift the ban.

"We think Rocco orchestrated the accident." Warrick explained.

"Based on what?"

The CSI's shared a look. "Right now, a hunch." He admitted. "This guy isn't into family values; he just wants vengeance."

"Well, come back with more than a hunch and I'll sort it out." Nancy promised. "In the meantime, as long as he thinks your presence is affecting her recovery there's nothing I can do. My hands are tied."

"So, what? That's it?" Cath demanded. "I know you have better things to be doing than standing guard outside her room all night."

"Of course we do" She rolled her eyes. "Technically there's nothing to stop you going in," Cath took that as permission and moved towards the door but Nancy's hand shot out and caught her arm before she could. Catherine dug her heels in, sending her an infuriated glare. "_But_, the second you do he'll have security throw you out and then you really will be banned."

"Seriously, how is he doing this?" Warrick spat. "This is ridiculous!"

"I agree with you, but this is what we've been told." Nance threw her hands up. "I really wish I could help."

"What, exactly, have you been told?" Catherine pressed.

"That he's signed an official document stating that if the police or anyone from CSI tries to enter her room, they are to be removed." She recited dutifully. "How, why, what document – I have no idea. Now, as you said I have other things to be doing, so-"

"Before you go," Catherine clutched her sister's wrist and fixed her with a pleading look. "Has he said anything to her?"

"Sure." She shrugged. "And if I could speak Italian, I'd tell you what it was."

"Of course." Warrick huffed. "The slimy bastard."

"I'm sorry." Nancy said softly. "I'll keep you updated."

"Please do." Catherine nodded weakly, her shoulder's drooping with despondency.

As Nancy disappeared on her rounds, Cath turned to Warrick with a helpless expression. Seeing the tears building in her eyes, he pulled her into a tight hug.

"She'll be alright." He promised, dropping a kiss onto the top of her head. "She's got this far, she can go a little further."

X x x

"So, we can't see her at all?" Nick asked, bordering somewhere between incredulous and incensed.

"Surely he can't do that." Brass frowned.

"Nancy couldn't explain it; she just said her boss had ordered it." Catherine sighed, shaking her head. "Sara's going to think we've abandoned her."

"No, she won't." Grissom assured her. "She'll know we wouldn't do that."

"Yeah, she'll know we're doing everything we can to see her." Warrick agreed, placing a comforting hand on her arm.

"Surely we can't have any more bad news on this case." Nick groaned tiredly.

"In that case," Sofia interrupted, materialising in the doorway with a fretful expression. "I should probably go."

"Why, what now?" Grissom asked, almost pleadingly. Something about the detective's demeanour as she exhaled deeply made his stomach sink.

"I was about to go over Angelo's murder case again, hoping to find something about the family mentioned. But it's gone."

"Gone?" Catherine repeated, stunned.

"The case file, the photographs. The entire evidence box has vanished from the vault."

"No, that's impossible." Grissom insisted.

"It's not impossible." Ecklie injected, stalking into the room. "It's a disaster. How the hell did someone get to it?"

"I have no idea." Sofia shrugged pitifully. "The only people who have access work here."

"You're saying someone in the lab took it?" Nick asked, his gaze shifting around the room. "Who would do that?"

Ignoring the Texan; Ecklie pursed his lips, drumming his fingers on the edge of the table as he contemplated their next move.

"Can we get another copy of the files from California?" He asked at last.

"Probably, but they might be reluctant to hand them over now." Brass pointed out. "You know, since we've lost one set."

"Alright. What do we still have?"

"Well, I did manage to get a judge to issue a warrant for Sara's foster care record; they're sending it over now." Sofia said hopefully. "We might get something from that. Maybe."

"Okay. Work on that." The boss ordered, although they both knew it was a long shot. "The rest of you, you still have your own notes to work from."

"What about who took the evidence box?" Gil frowned. "If the security's been breached shouldn't that be addressed first?"

"I'll deal with that." Ecklie assured them, although it was clear from his gritted teeth and white knuckles that this was not a phone call he was looking forward to having with the Undersheriff. "You guys just do what it takes to figure this out. The sooner we get this case closed and get Sara back here, the better."

He flounced back out, leaving the team to dwell in their worsening situation.

"Our evidence goes missing and we can't talk to Sara." Nick released a heavy breath. "Someone's going to a lot of trouble to make sure we don't solve this case."

"I might be able to help there." Greg burst into the room excitedly. "I've been looking into the rest of the family, hoping to find some connections to Rocco."

As he spoke, he was pinning a series of photographs to the board. Catherine cocked her head to the side as she surveyed his work. Add a few lines and you'd have a neat little family tree. She recognised Angelo and Rocco, but the other six were new to them.

"What is all this?" Nick asked impatiently. Greg turned to him, practically bubbling with the thrill of his find.

"I'm getting there." He said, gesturing to the first image.

"Gloria Sidle – Angelo's eldest sister. She's a nurse in New York and she hasn't left the city in near ten years."

"So, we can assume she's not involved." Brass shrugged. Greg shuffled along the line, moving to the next images.

"Rosaria and Michael, both still live in Italy; along with the youngest, Joseph."

"So that leaves Elena and Carmella?" Grissom deduced. The latter, a dark-haired woman in her late forties, bore a resemblance to Sara with her gentle curls and dark eyes. Her hair was closer to black though and her skin was tanned.

"Right." Greg nodded, breaking the supervisor's staring match with the picture. "Carmella owns a grocery store in Australia, so it's probably safe to say she's in the clear."

"What about Elena?" Catherine asked, feeling her heart rate start to increase at the prospect of a lead.

"Elena," Greg explained, the excitement creeping back into his voice, "is Angelo's twin. She moved to California not long after he did and she still lives there now."

"Now we're getting somewhere." Warrick drawled appreciatively.

"Oh, it gets better. She's a medical researcher at San Francisco Memorial hospital, she's on the board of trustees and – get this – she's a member of the American Medical Directors Association."

Catherine cottoned on to what he was getting at, a look of understanding crossing her features.

"So, she would be able to make a medical file go walkabout."

"Yeah, and I bet with one phone call to Desert Palms she could have them do anything for her niece." The former lab rat nodded.

"Yeah, like getting us banned from the ward." Warrick sniffed. "They tag-teamed us. Long distance."

"Man, they've got this down to a science!" Nick hissed. "We never stood a chance!"

"That explains why Nancy didn't know anything about it." Catherine added. "It's come from way above her."

"Yeah, the hospital's probably so scared of the backlash from the board; they would do anything she said." Grissom released a heavy sigh. "Which means anything we say won't have the slightest impact on them."

"So, what do you suggest?" Cath asked. "We can't just leave things as they are."

"No," he agreed thoughtfully. "But if we arrest him he won't be able to stop us seeing her."

"Except we don't have enough proof to arrest him." Brass stated the obvious. "If we did we wouldn't be in this situation."

Grissom looked up, scanning the eager faces of his team.

"That's true." He agreed. "And as long as we can't see Sara there's nothing more we can do in Nevada…"

Catherine narrowed her eyes knowingly.

"What are you suggesting?" She inquired suspiciously. He quirked an eyebrow, a sparkle of adventure playing in his blue orbs.

"Road trip."


	12. Chapter 12

**Longer chapter for you :) Hope you like, let me know what you think**

**x x x x**

"_Did your father ever tell you that you were pretty?"_

She wasn't sure why the conversation had floated back to the forefront of her mind. But now, as she stared forlornly out of the car window, she couldn't seem to shake it away.

"_I guess."_ Sara had shrugged, keeping her gaze trained firmly on the evidence. Catherine had thought at the time that there was something off about the brunette's answers, but they'd had a somewhat tumultuous shift and she had chalked Sara's mood up to their fight.

"_Did he ever tell you that you were smart?"_

Alas, with hindsight she could tell that the mumbled responses and studious avoiding of eye contact probably had more to do with the subject topic than the argument.

"_Yes." _Something about the way in which Sara answered so definitively made Catherine's blood run cold. Like Sara's intelligence had been more of an issue of contention than a reason to be proud in the Sidle household.

Perhaps they were worried that their daughter was too smart for them; that one day she might escape their abusive clutches and become something better than them.  
If that was the case, perhaps they had good reason to worry.

She released a deep breath, causing the window to steam up. Warrick sent her a concerned look; it dawned on him that she hadn't spoken a word since they'd pulled out of the crime lab parking lot two hours ago.

"You okay?" He asked softly, nudging her. Wordlessly she offered a weak smile and a nod, before turning her attention back to the world whizzing past the window.

She knew that Grissom was right – as long as they weren't allowed to see Sara there was no reason for them to stay in Las Vegas when the evidence they needed was in California. But all the same, it felt wrong leaving the state when their friend was in such a bad way.

The only thing easing her worries slightly was that Greg and Sofia would be staying, so if anything happened Sara would have someone to call on.

Still, Catherine thought sadly to herself, if Sara needed to call anyone she wanted it to be her.

X x x

Mandy stretched, casting a lazy glance across the hall. It was a slow night in her lab and she was dying for something to take her mind off the dire state of events.

By now word of the ban and the missing evidence had spread, resulting in a black cloud of depression falling over the whole lab.

Her gaze fell into Archie's lab, where the young tech was tapping away at his computer, brow furrowed and tongue protruding from his mouth in deep concentration. Deciding that she had earned a break anyway, she wandered across the hall to see what had him so enthralled.

"Hey," she greeted, leaning over the back of his chair to see his screen. "What are you doing?"

"Grissom asked me to check Sara's aunt's phone records."

"Ah, to see if she's been catching up with big brother while he's on his 'business trip'?" Mandy guessed. "Any joy?"

"Well, these are her calls to and from work." He gestured to a series of numbers highlighted in yellow. "And the green are general numbers like directory inquires and restaurant bookings."

"What about the red?" She asked.

"That's where it get's interesting." He hummed. "These are a numbers from a disposable cell phone, a motel in California and the Bellagio Hotel – all of which are related to the case."

"How so?" The fingerprint tech frowned, pulling up a chair beside him.

"Well, I cross-referenced the list with William's and Sara's phone records. A week before the accidents the California motel called Sara and William." He explained. "And the cell phone called them both the day of their accidents."

"Really." She leant forward, scanning the numbers. "Can you find out who the motel room was registered to?"

"No, I've tried." He shook his head, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "The room was paid in cash and registered to Norma Jeane Mortenson."

"Marilyn Monroe." Mandy rolled her eyes. "What about the Bellagio?"

"That did give a name. They paid by credit card, courtesy of…" He grinned, tapping a few keys until a box popped up on screen. Mandy's lips spread into a smile.

"Maserati HQ, Viale Ciro Menotti."

X x x

"So, you've been left behind to pick up the slack, huh?" Doc Robbins remarked as Greg shuffled into his office with the sleep-deprived look of a man much in need of a cup of coffee.

"Well, someone has to be here in case anything happens." The young man shrugged, seemingly nonplussed at being left out of the trip. "I want to be there for her."

"We all do." Doc observed sadly.

"As long as she knows we're all thinking of her." David piped up from across the room. "She knows we wouldn't forget about her, even if we can't see her."

"I just hope Uncle Rocco hasn't been telling her the opposite." Greg muttered. They all shared a moment of contemplative silence before he got them back to the subject at hand and gestured tiredly to the body on the slab.

"So, what can you tell me about Mr Thompson?"

X x x

"Alright, thanks Nance." Catherine breathed into the phone. "Give Lindsey a kiss from me."

She hung up, staring despondently at the phone for a moment before slipping it back into her pocket.

"How's our girl doing?" Warrick asked, joining her on the couch in the corner of the hotel bar.

"She's alright." Cath shrugged. "Nancy said she was asking for us today."

"Did she tell her why we can't see her?"

"She couldn't. Her uncle was still standing guard." She shook her blonde hair out, a pout forming on her lips. "She must be so confused."

"She'll figure it out. Sara;s a smart cookie." Rick assured her. "And as soon as we find something we'll get him behind bars and she'll be back where she belongs – with her family."

Grissom wandered over with the remaining members of the group, cutting their conversation short.

"Alright, I've sorted it with the front desk. We're all checked in, so it's up to you guys. We can get some sleep and start early tomorrow," he offered. "Or we can make the most of the couple of hours of daylight left?"

The team shared a look. Eventually Nick cleared his throat, a dark look on his usually boyish face.

"I want to see where all of this started."

X x x

"This is it?" The Texan scrunched his nose up.

The house, a two story detached building with crumbling roof and overgrown garden didn't look like much. Buried into the scraggly hedge there was still the old, rotting wooden B&B sign.

It was at the top of the main road into Tomales Bay, looking down on a row of houses several hundred yards along the road. Surrounding the hotel, there was nothing but wide open spaces and overgrown hedges.

The place was deserted.

They had only been planning to find the old Sidle residence, because they'd expected it to have been resold by now. But evidently it had been left for nature to reclaim.

"Well," Grissom said, cocking his head to the side. "We don't need a warrant to search an abandoned property. And this looks abandoned to me."

"Hell yeah." Brass agreed, already beginning to pick his way down the path.

The front door had once been boarded up but curious teenagers had broken that down long ago. They nudged the rotting barrier open, being instantly hit by the musty smell of dilapidation and desecration.

The hall, complete with a small reception desk, was covered in decades of dust.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Catherine asked as they surveyed the neglected entryway.

Grissom released a breath.

"I don't know. Family letters, something that might suggest Angelo's family were looking for revenge."

X x x

"Cath? Catherine?" Nick called, wandering across the landing. The rotten floorboards creaked with every footstep.  
They'd split off their separate ways to explore the building and the blonde had promptly disappeared.

Having excluded every other hiding place in the house, he poked his head into a small room at the end of the hallway. Decorated with once pale yellow walls, the carpet was faded and worn and the curtains were ragged with moth bites.

In the centre of the small room, sat cross-legged on the floor, Catherine was cradling a ragged, one-eyed teddy bear. Despite its age, it was surprisingly well preserved.

X x x

She found that if she closed her eyes she could almost hear the shouting; the screams of pain from Laura, the angry words from Angelo. She clutched the toy closer and pictured little Sara doing the same thing. She wondered how many of the small child's tears this toy had absorbed.

Nick's tentative footsteps broke the spell and she suddenly realised that he was waiting for her to speak.

"I found it in the chest." She explained hoarsely, gesturing to the wooden toy box behind her. There was a stack of books beside the bed and a series of childish drawings, long since faded to nothing, pinned haphazardly to the wall. No doubt, this had been Sara's room.

"Cute." Nick commented, coming carefully into the room. "Watch the floors, they might not be stable."

"I know." She mumbled absently, still caressing the small bear. "What kind of sad life must she have had?"

"I know." He echoed miserably, sitting cautiously on the small bed. "I was just in the parent's room."

She looked up, scanning his face. "Should I ask?" she inquired at last. He shook his head slowly, standing back up.

"Let's just say I don't think they bothered with a clean-up crew."

"It doesn't look like anyone's set foot in this house since that night." She added. "I checked the drawers; I don't think they packed any of her clothes when they took her into care."

She stood up, dusting her own clothes down and making her way to the door after the Texan. She paused, casting a final glance around the room before sealing it off from the world once more and heading down the hall.

It hit you as soon as you set foot in the master bedroom. The atmosphere – something bad had happened in here.

The sheets had been taken for evidence but the mattress remained, complete with an old brown stain on the right hand side.

Cautiously, she walked over to the closet and crouched down. The image of Sara curled in the bottom clutching her legs to her chest, tears pouring down her tiny face flashed into her mind and imprinted itself into her memory.

She shook her head slowly.

"I'm so sorry, baby." She whispered.

She wasn't even aware of Grissom's presence until she felt the weight of his gentle hand on her shoulder.

"We're going to find out who did this." He said softly, startling her out of her trance. She wiped at her eyes before standing up and turning around.

"Have you found anything?" She asked.

"Not yet." He sighed. "To be honest, I don't even know what we're looking for."

She pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"Presumably Angelo's family sorted out his personal effects after he died." She posited. "So, where would they start?"

He quirked an eyebrow, catching her drift. "The office?"

X x x

Jim stalked down the front path taking a deep breath of the fresh sea air. The sun had gone in now and the only thing illuminating the road was a lone streetlight.

He'd been to his fair share of disturbing scenes but something out this house was unnerving him. It had a dark aura about it.

He couldn't help but wonder what it must have been like to live here.

"Hey." An unfamiliar voice startled him out of his thoughts. A middle-aged man was watching him from the road. "You shouldn't be in there." He gestured to the broken house with a shaky hand.

"You live round here?" Brass asked, neglecting to respond to the comment.

"Yeah, just down there." The man pointed towards a row of houses at the base of the hill. "Lived here my whole life."

"Really?" Jim quirked an eyebrow, flashing his badge to the man. "Do you remember the owners of this hotel?"

The man eyed his badge suspiciously before deciding it was legit and answering with a dry laugh. "Oh yeah." He sighed. "I remember that." He narrowed his eyes at the detective. "That was years ago. Why are you here now?"

"It's… a lead in an ongoing investigation." He replied cryptically.

"Really?" The man leant against the lamppost curiously. "Well, I was a teenager when that happened. We all knew it was going to happen one day."

"What do you mean?"

"You could hear the fights from my house." He pointed again. "One morning we got woken up by sirens – there was police everywhere. We knew it had to be them."

"Do you remember the kids?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, I remember them." He softened his voice. "Jack was about my age, but he kept to himself. The younger boy, Will, he used to wander the streets at all hours, just to avoid going home."

"What about the girl?" Jim pressed. The man got a sad look on his face.

"I used to walk my dog up this road." He explained. "Every night when I got home from school and came up here, she would be sat on that doorstep. Just, staring at me." He shook his head. "It was like she was silently trying to ask me something. One day I came home and she wasn't there. My mom said an ambulance had taken her away earlier in the day." He sniffed. "She'd 'fallen' through a glass door."

"Right. 'Fallen'." Jim muttered.

"I always kind of felt responsible." The man shuffled awkwardly on the spot. "Like I should have done more to help, you know?"

Jim sent him a sympathetic look.

"Yeah, I know." He sighed. "But you might have just helped her now."


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks for the continuing reviews :) Hope you enjoy this one. Things are going to get interesting soon ...**

**I'll try to have the next update up tomorrow night**

**x x x x**_  
_

_Sara had no idea what she'd done wrong; she'd been minding her own business, sat under her tree reading when the teacher had stalked into her shady spot and forcibly dragged her to the school nurse's office. _

_She tried to dig her heels in, with little avail. She was, after all, massively outweighed. _

_Despite her best efforts, she was thrown through the door into the small office. _

_To her surprise, her brother was already there, kicking his scuffed shoes against the floor. He lifted his sad gaze to meet her puzzled one. _

"_Check her." Someone barked and suddenly she was scooped up and dumped on the bed. Her cropped trousers were rolled up past her knees and her tiny arms were tugged and twisted. _

"_Bruises on her legs." The nurse said. "And on her arms, stomach."_

"_I'll call social services." One teacher sighed, disappearing into the hall. _

"_No!" William leapt up, but a firm hand was placed on his shoulder, pushing him back onto the stool. Sara, too young to understand any of what was going on, tried desperately to catch her big brother's gaze, but he had taken to resolutely staring at the floor. _

_He, like her, had been dragged here against his will after a dinner-lady had spotted the lacklustre lunch he was picking at and brought him here to talk to him. That's when they'd spotted his bruises and scars. _

_However, unlike his oblivious baby sister, he knew what was going to happen next. _

She awoke with a start. The monitor was beeping a-mile-a-minute in time with her racing heart. She glanced around the room, taking in the too-familiar surroundings. She was still in hospital, but at least her uncle had finally left. Having caught her breath back, she sank back into the pillows and released a sigh.

It had been a long time since she'd thought about that day. It was the first time she'd had any dealings with the social workers, years before she got taken into care for real. They'd come to the house, talked to their parents. Oddly enough, no one thought to talk to the kids themselves.

And then they'd left. And Angelo had gotten mad.

X x x

"Okay," Nick murmured around a mouthful of breakfast. "So, I've been looking over the information Sofia sent over about Sara's foster carers."

"Any luck?" Catherine asked, disinterestedly poking her scrambled eggs around the plate.

"Yeah, actually." He wiped his mouth with a napkin and flipped open a notebook. "We didn't get the full details, just names and dates."

"Are there any still around?" Grissom asked, sipping from his coffee. He had opted against breakfast, but now he was eyeing up Nick's bacon sandwich.

"Yeah actually." The Texan nodded. "She was in care from 1982 until 1988, when her grandmother got custody. In that time she was in seven different homes."

"Seven?" Brass repeated.

"Sofia tracked down three who are still around, but Sara was only with one of them for a few weeks so they're unlikely to remember her."

"Okay." Grissom chewed on the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. "Well, we'll start with the other two and move onto the third if we have time."

As he was speaking, Jim's phone buzzed. He scanned the text message quickly, quirking an eyebrow.

"Hey, before you all split off." He called before anyone could leave the table. "Ecklie's pulled some strings and gotten us a warrant to search Elena's house. He's faxing it over."

They shared a knowing look.

"I want the foster carers." Catherine stated at last. The boys exchanged a frown over her head.

"I'll go with you." Warrick said at last.

"Alright," Grissom nodded. "The rest of us will go to Elena's and we'll meet back here tonight and share what we've learnt."

As they made their way from the breakfast room to the main lobby, Brass and Warrick hung back and the dark-skinned man leant down to the detective.

"I'll keep an eye on her." He assured him.

X x x

The door creaked open and a pair of suspicious eyes peered through the crack at them.

"Who are you?" An unexpectedly soft voice enquired.

"Mrs Kellogg? We're with the Las Vegas police." Warrick said, holding his ID badge up to the gap. "We need to talk to you about a child you fostered."

The door closed and they heard the distinctive sound of a chain being taken off before it swung open again, revealing a woman in her late fifties with a world-weary expression. "I don't foster anymore." She said, folding her arms across her chest.

"This was several years ago." Catherine jumped in. "In the 80's."

The woman scanned their faces for a moment before reluctantly stepping aside.

"I suppose you'd better some inside."

X x x

"Elena Cammeniti!" Brass hammered on the door harshly. "Police!"

"Maybe she's not in." Nick shrugged.

"Oh, she's in." Jim gestured to the fancy car parked on the driveway.

"Maserati." Grissom commented. "Present from big brother?"

"I'd bet my pay check on it." Jim huffed, hammering on the door again. "Elena Cammeniti! Open up!"

He was just about to lose his patience and kick the door in when it swung open, revealing a pissed off woman wearing a bathrobe; dark damp hair trickling down her back.

"What?" She barked. Jim held up the warrant.

"Las Vegas Police." He announced. "We have a warrant to search your house."

"For what?" She asked, startled. "You can't do this!"

Grissom gestured to the San Francisco Detective on loan to them. Technically, since the first crime occurred in their jurisdiction it was still their case.

"He says we can." The CSI smiled, following his guys into the house.

The detective, a well-built man in his thirties who could moonlight as a bouncer, stepped forward.

"Why don't you stay with me, ma'am." He asked sternly, marching her into the kitchen.

X x x

"So, what does the Las Vegas Police want with me?" The woman asked as she placed a tray of drinks on the coffee table.

"Mrs Kellogg…"

"Susan, please." She corrected politely.

"Susan." Catherine nodded. "In 1982 you fostered a little girl called Sara Sidle."

She furrowed her brow in thought for a moment, before realisation crossed her features and her lips rounded into an oh shape.

"Yes, I remember Sara." She smiled fondly. "Very sweet girl, very timid."

"Were you aware of the reason she was in care?" Warrick asked.

"Not at first, but when the media got hold of her mother's case we found out. Those reporters, they printed pictures of the kids in the paper!" she scowled. Catherine already knew that – she'd found the article.

"Did you meet her brothers too?" She asked.

"No, I only had Sara." Susan cleared her throat, taking a sip of her homemade lemonade. "She came to me about three months after her father's death. The older boy ran away from the hospital the same night it happened and the other was living in a different foster home. Sara was the youngest."

"What do you remember about her?" Warrick asked, getting them back on track.

"She was fiery. She didn't like confrontation." The CSIs bit back a laugh. That sounded like the girl they knew and loved. "And she was so smart. I mean, genius level smart."

"She was here for eight months." Catherine stated. "Why was she taken away?"

Susan pursed her lips, a sad look crossing her features. "Kids in social care, they get shuffled around all the time. Sara … she got in a couple of fights at school." She held her hands up, quickly correcting herself. "They weren't her fault – she was small and she got bullied because of her mother's trial."

"So, they took her away?"

"Just like that." The woman offered a small shrug. Unexpectedly, she stood up and wandered to a chest of drawers across the room. They watched her curiously as she returned with a photo album and began flicking through the pages.

When she held it out for them to see, their faces broke out in matching smiles.

The third photo down was a little girl with dark hair, cuddling a white, shaggy dog. She had a wide grin, complete with an adorably recognisable gap between her teeth.

"She adored animals." Susan smiled. "She trusted them more than she would ever trust a human."

"Animals can't break your heart." Catherine mumbled, turning the page. Another photo showed her curled up asleep on the couch alongside a sheepdog. Her tiny frame was practically embraced by the large creature.

"We always kept animals. We found it helped the children settle."

"Did she ever talk about her parents or her family?" Warrick asked. Susan pursed her lips and shook her head slowly.

"She was taken to see her mother a couple of times in the hospital. But she never talked about it."

"What about her father?" Cath pressed. "Did she mention him, or his family?"

"Sara had severe nightmares. At first she wouldn't say a word – when I woke her up she would run away and hide somewhere. It took me eight months, but she was finally starting to open up about them when they took her away." Susan sighed. "Her father hurt them. She wanted to forget him."

Warrick opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

"Her father's family did try to get custody." She tapped her fingers on her knees nervously. "An aunt, I believe."

"Really?" Warrick hummed.

"One day two men turned up on the doorstep and demanded to see her. I thought they were going to take her away – I nearly had to call the police to get rid of them!"

"Did you get any names?" He asked urgently.

"They were all Italian-sounding names – that's how I knew it was her father's family and not her mother's."

Warrick, busy scribbling all of this down, cast a glance at Catherine's face. She seemed almost to have checked out of the conversation and engrossed herself in the photo album.

"Ms Kellogg," the blonde spoke up at last, pointing to one photo in particular. "Who's this man?"

Susan smiled. "My husband. Sara took a long time to warm to him, but he finally broke her."

The photo showed a tall, sandy-haired man holding Sara up to a railing overlooking the sea. Her dark flyaway curls were blowing behind her and a bright smile lit up her face.

"Ralph was so good with the kids – even though he worked long hours he always made time for them. After he died, I stopped fostering. I couldn't handle it on my own."

Feeling awkward with the sudden turn in conversation, Warrick cleared his throat and shifted forwards in his seat.

"So, Sara was settling in?"

"There are three types of children in care, Mr Brown." She explained. "The ones who just want a family and settle in right away. The ones who need time to adjust but have the potential to settle in. And the ones who are too damaged to ever accept love."

"Which one was Sara?" Catherine asked softly, finally looking back up.

"The second." She paused, a sad smile creeping onto her lips. "The week before she got taken away, she started calling me mom. With a little more time, she'd have started to trust me. We were very sad to see her go."

Realising that they had gotten all the information they could, the CSIs stood up to leave. Catherine reluctantly handed the photo album back.

"Thank you for your time." She nodded politely, turning to leave.

"Before you go," Susan requested, leaping to her feet. "Can I ask what's happened to Sara?"

Not wanting to give too much away, they offered an evasive answer about the motorbike accident, neglecting to mention the boys' deaths. This woman looked fragile enough as it was.

"Oh my." She shook her head sadly. "Well, I hope this was of some help. I'd hate to think of anything happening to Sara."

"Don't worry." Cath offered her a reassuring smile. "We'll take good care of her."

Susan cocked her head to the side curiously.

"You know her?" She realised aloud.

"Yes, we work with her." Warrick nodded.

"The police?"

"She's a scientist." Susan smiled brightly.

"A scientist." She repeated quietly. "That's good. She was always so bright. So beautiful."

Catherine smiled fondly. "She still is."

X x x

"I don't know what you hope to find." Elena snapped, stalking them around the house as best she could with her police guard. "I haven't seen my brother in years."

"Really?" Nick asked disbelievingly. "So, I suppose you wouldn't mind me checking your spare room then?"

He was halfway up the stairs before she could offer an answer. As he disappeared on the landing, the front door opened and a young man, around the same age as the Sidle kids, appeared in the doorway.

"Mom?" He asked frantically. "What's going on?"

Jim walked slowly towards the man, eyeing him up. More specifically, noting the fading bruise on his forehead.

"What's your name, son?" He asked gruffly.

"Marco." He scowled. "Who … who are you people."

"We're with the police – that's a nasty bruise you got there."

"It was an accident." Marco shrugged, meeting his mother's gaze across the hall. "Mom, what are they doing here?"

"Something's happened to your cousins." She said. "They think we have something to do with it."

"What …?" He shook his head disbelievingly. "You've got this all wrong. We haven't seen them in years."

"How do you know?" Grissom asked calmly, appearing from the side. "We didn't say which cousins."

Marco's face darkened and he stepped further into the house.

"Unless you have grounds to arrest my mother or myself, I think you should leave."

"Jim!" Nick's voice hollered from the top of the stairs. "Suitcase, clothes and men's toiletries in the guest room."

Jim's lips turned into a sneer as he whirled on Elena.

"Boy, you Italian's love to do things as a family don't you?" He mocked. "Where is your big bro? Oh wait; he's in Vegas, guarding your niece."

She chewed on her lower lip anxiously, narrowing her dark eyes.

"I want a lawyer." She said at last, crossing her arms.

The police officer sidled up beside Grissom, giving the woman a pointed look as he spoke.

"I don't know how it works in Vegas, but here that usually means they have something to hide."


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry for the cliffhanger but I couldn't resist. I'll try not to keep you waiting too long! **

**x x x x**

If the bikes propped neatly against the side of the house and the deflated paddling pool in the front yard were anything to go by, it could be assumed that this couple were still fostering.

When they didn't receive a response after the first knock Warrick tried again, harder. Still, there was nothing. The CSIs exchanged a shrug and turned to go, when the door creaked open and a pair of bright blue eyes peeped up at them through the crack.

"Oh, hello." Catherine smiled, crouching down to the little boy. "Is Mrs Fletcher in?"

He nodded shyly and opened the door further, allowing them in. They found themselves in the lounge, which was occupied by a little girl reading quietly in the corner and a couple of children doing their homework. Considering the number of children who obviously lived here, it was oddly quiet.

"Sam!" A stern voice hollered and the little boy who'd let them in scampered off hurriedly. Cath and Warrick exchanged a look, but before they could say anything a woman with dark hair scrunched into an unruly bun wandered in from the kitchen and did a double take.

"Who are you?" She barked harshly, startled to find the strangers in her house.

"Mrs Fletcher, we're with the police." Catherine explained. "We need to ask you a few questions about a child you foster several years ago."

"Look, whatever they've done it's not my problem anymore." She sighed. "Once they reach 18 they're your problem."

"Oh, they haven't done anything." Cath corrected, slightly taken aback by the attitude. "Actually, we think she may be in danger and we need your help to find out who's trying to hurt her."

Mrs Fletcher planted her hands on her hips and fixed them with an impatient look.

"Make it quick."

X x x

"Alright, here's how it is." Jim spat, walking around the table to stand threateningly over Elena's shoulder. "We already know where your brother is and we know that this was his idea. So do yourself a favour and tell us what you know."

The San Francisco police had been glad to loan the CSIs an interrogation room, providing they got to run to shots; but as soon as that door closed Brass had taken the reins and quite frankly the Frisco detective was more than happy to sit back and watch the show.

Elena folded her arms, a pout forming on her lips.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She hissed. "My son and I have nothing to do with this."

"Don't say another word." Her lawyer, a young woman with long blonde hair and thick-rimmed glasses, barked. "Do you actually have any evidence to back up these claims, Detective?" She drawled in a smarmy Southern voice.

"I'm getting to that." Jim hushed her impatiently, shoving a copy of her phone records across the table. "Why did you phone Desert Palm Hospital two days ago?"

Elena looked up, a spiteful sneer on her face.

"No comment."

X x x

"How is Sara?" Marco asked nervously, twisting his hands in his lap.

"Why?" Nick scowled. "Do you care?"

Marco looked up, giving the Texan a glimpse of the sad look in his eyes. When he didn't speak, Grissom stepped forward.

"How did you get that bump on your head?" He asked calmly.

"I told you … it was an accident." The young man had been all fight until he'd been separated from his mother, but oddly he'd refused their offer of a lawyer. Instead, he appeared to have chosen to sit and tremble on his own.

"It wasn't an accident." Nick hissed. "You got it when your head bounced off the steering wheel after you rammed a car into your cousin!"

Marco flinched at his harsh tone, shaking his head weakly.

"I … I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Hey man, it's over." Nicky continued, softening his voice slightly. "We've got the car! And as soon as we match your fingerprints and DNA to it , we've got you for the murder of William and the attempted murder of Sara."

"No!" The young man erupted tearfully, a startled look crossing his features. "No … it wasn't like that!"

"How was it then?" Gil asked.

Marco's dark eyes searched the room helplessly, as ifhe might find the answers he needed scrawled on the walls.

"He said all I had to do was steal the car." He hiccupped at last.

"Rocco?" Nick clarified, leaning across the table. Another detective from San Francisco took a seat and produced a notebook from his pocket.

"When was this?" He asked gruffly.

"He came to me on Sunday afternoon, gave me the address and told me where to take it to." He sniffed, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "I stole it on Monday morning, about 2am."

"Where did you take it?" The detective pressed abruptly. Clearly, this was a man who had little patience and even less sympathy for their suspect.

"A car dealership on Redwood Highway."

"What happened after that?" Nick asked. He honestly didn't give a damn about the car, but he understood they had to go through the motions.

"Nothing at first. I thought it was over." The man shrugged. "Then I got a phone call late on Monday night, asking me to come and pick him – Rocco – up at a bar. He … he had blood on his clothes."

X x x

"Oh yes, I remember her." Mrs Fletcher hummed at the old photo Warrick had provided. "Sullen little thing; I barely got ten words out of her the whole time she was here."

"Do you remember whether she had any contact with her biological family while she was here?"

"Not that I recall." She pursed her lips. "But then I have had a lot of children come and go over the years. I don't remember them all."

While they spoke, Catherine took the time to survey the kitchen. The little boy from earlier, Sam, was watching her with wary eyes from the table but every time she offered a friendly smile he looked away.

There was something odd about this house. As she wandered over to the fridge, she was surprised to find it padlocked. As were the cupboards. She frowned, tugging on one of them – it held fast.

"Excuse me." She called, interrupting their conversation. "Can you explain why these cupboards are locked?"

"To stop the children getting in them." The carer stated obviously.

"Have you always locked food away from your foster kids?" Catherine inquired coldly.

"Yes." Bizarrely, she didn't seem abashed to admit it. "I feed them, I keep them healthy. I don't want them helping themselves – children don't know what's good for them and what's not."

"Right." Cath said disbelievingly, catching Warrick's gaze. "So, they only get food when you tell them they can eat?"

Mrs Fletcher narrowed her eyes. "If there's nothing else I can help you with…"

"There is." The blonde cut her off, stalking back towards them. "Why was Sara removed from your care?"

"I believe her grandmother took custody." Mrs Fletcher sniffed. "We only offer temporary care to children."

"No, actually. Sara stayed in custody until she was 15 and yet our records show that she left you when she was twelve."

The woman chewed on her bottom lip, but ultimately realised that she wasn't going to get rid of these people until they got what they came for.

"She ran away." She divulged at last.

"Why?" Warrick pressed.

"Maybe she was hungry." Catherine commented dryly, earning her a dark look.

"No, actually." Mrs Fletcher spat. "She claimed someone was following her home from school. Said that someone had tried to pull her into a car one night."

"Did you call the police?" Warrick asked, concern flooding his features.

"Of course I didn't." The woman laughed. "These kids – they're trouble-makers. They come to us so we can set them straight."

"No, they come to you because they need someone to offer love and affection." Catherine corrected through gritted teeth. Mrs Fletcher scoffed callously.

"Sara only said those things to get attention. And when I didn't give her it, she took off. After the third time, they moved her somewhere else."

Catherine stepped closer, a threatening look burning in her blue eyes.

"Except she wasn't lying." She drawled. "Someone was trying to get to her and now they've succeeded. Maybe if you'd paid a bit more attention you could have protected her – like you were supposed to."

"I think it's time you left, Ms Willows." Mrs Fletcher said in a bitterly calm voice, squaring her shoulders.

"Oh don't worry, we're going." Cath snapped. "And if I were you, I'd be expecting a visit from Social Services."

X x x

"Did you know why he wanted you to steal the car?" Grissom asked.

"Not at first." Marco sniffled. "After I picked him up at the bar he explained it to me. I … I didn't want any part of it, but he wouldn't let me out. He said if I didn't help he would tell the police that I stole the car and killed Jack!" He cried, gesturing wildly with his hands. "I spent time in juvie for car theft and joyriding. I didn't think you'd believe I wasn't involved. I … I have a good job and a kid, I couldn't go to prison."

The three men shared a silent look over the top of their despondent suspect. Eventually, Grissom sighed.

"So, he gets you drive to Bakersfield. How did he get William to drive out there?"

At the change in subject, Marco straightened up.

"He called him; said he had something important to tell him about Laura."

"And then you sat in the car and waited for the perfect moment." Nick scowled. Marco's face scrunched up at the memory, tears building in his eyes.

"It made such an awful noise." He sobbed. "I had no idea whether I'd killed him or not, I just had to get out of there."

"I bet your uncle was mad that you hadn't finished the job." The Detective goaded. "Is that why he had you drive out to Las Vegas? Second time's a charm?"

"He'd had someone else in mind for that, but he said I owed him." Marco agreed. "But first he had someone fix the car up – a mechanic from the garage."

Grissom's ears pricked up.

"Do you know his name?" He enquired hopefully.

"Lucas, I think." He said. "He was there in Las Vegas, too."

"He called you when he saw Sara coming on the bike." Nick realised aloud, remembering the CCTV footage. Marco nodded glumly.

"I didn't want to do this, but Rocco kept saying that he would protect me – that as soon as it was over we could all go back to normal."

"What about your mother?" Grissom asked. "Where does she fit into all of this?"

"She doesn't." Marco insisted, flinching at the accusation. "She had nothing to do with it.

X x x

"Your family isn't big on loyalty is it?" Brass commented, scanning the text message under the table before showing it to his uniformed companion. "Your boy just rolled on you."

Elena twitched.

"He wouldn't." She stated, shaking her head.

"He gave you up." He continued. "You and Rocco planned to get revenge on Laura Sidle by taking away her kids."

"She was never a Sidle." She hissed, despite her lawyer determinedly hushing her.

"I mean, it was well thought out." Brass conceded. "Your brother provides the information and the cover story, your son does the dirty work and you … you used your position in the hospital to make Sara's medical file disappear." He made a 'poof' motion with his hands, as if he was performing a magic trick.

"Non avete idea!" She snapped, waving her hands. "Che donna ucciso mio fratello!"

They didn't know what she had said, although the lawyer seemed to understand every word as she requested a moment with her client through gritted teeth.

"Take all the time you need." Brass waved a hand absently at them. "We've got what we came here for."

X x x

"The DA has refused to make a deal with the aunt." Brass explained over dinner. "She'll go down for conspiracy to commit murder and perverting the course of justice."

"What about Marco?" Warrick asked, taking a huge bite of his sandwich. He hadn't realised how hungry he was until they'd left the Fletcher residence. He wondered absently if those kids felt the same.

"He'll use the defence of coercion, blackmail." Nick shrugged. "I don't even know what to think about this case anymore. I'm just glad we're near the end."

He stretched his tired muscles and stifled a yawn as Grissom rejoined the group, phone in hand.

"Ecklie is on his way to the hospital with Sofia to arrest Rocco." He announced. "Marco's testimony is evidence enough to hold him."

"Thank God." Catherine groaned. "So, we can see Sara again?"

"We can see Sara again." He nodded, swiping a piece of toast off the edge of her plate.

Before they had time to celebrate the victory, her cell phone trilled.

"Hey Greg." She answered with a smile. "We just heard the good news!" There was a pause and her face fell. Unconsciously, she gripped Nick's arm beside her. The men all froze, scanning her paling expression with concern. "Okay, we're on our way back." She stuttered, hanging up.

"What's wrong?" Warrick asked urgently.

"They just got a call from the hospital. Sara's slipped back into a coma."


	15. Chapter 15

**Hope you're all supporting your countries in the Olympics! **

**x x x x**

"What the hell happened?" Grissom asked, his normally serene blue eyes wide and frantic.

"We don't know – she was asleep. We left her alone with her uncle for a few minutes and suddenly she slipped unconscious again. She … she relapsed." Nancy stammered fretfully as she led the team through the hallway to Sara's relocated room.

"What the hell has he done to her?" Jim growled, balling his fists at his side.

"We don't know that he did anything." The nurse attempted to pacify them. "Obviously we removed him from the room as soon as we were alerted to the incident; but there was always a risk that this could happen."

Cath shook her head helplessly, tears springing to her eyes.

"This can't be happening." She mumbled softly. "Not again."

"Look, it's not as bad as you're thinking." Nancy stopped them in a wide, relatively quiet corridor. "Her condition has been improving, her scans are all normal. She's breathing on her own – be thankful for small mercies." She offered a feeble smile and gestured to a door across the hall.

Greg and Doc Robbins were already there when they filed into the small room, standing guard over their friend. Greg was clutching Sara's hand tightly in both of his; but as soon as the team appeared he jumped to his feet and walked straight into Catherine's arms. She held the young man in a close embrace for a moment, feeling his hot tears soaking into her shoulder, before carefully extracting herself and moving to Sara's bedside.

Nick took over, dragging Greg into a tight hug.

"It's alright buddy." He murmured softly against the younger man's ear, rubbing circles on his back. Just like the night of the accident, Greg clutched to him, sobbing quietly against his neck.

And just like the night of the accident, Catherine took up residence at Sara's side.

It was déjà vu all over again.

X x x

"Man, this sucks." Warrick grumbled. "I just wish there was something we could do."

The team had taken up their familiar positions flanking the bed.

"Yeah, I know." Cath agreed quietly, never taking her eyes off the patient. She looked so serene; if you didn't know better you'd think she was just sleeping peacefully. The strawberry-blonde was absently running one hand through Sara's hair, propping her head up with the other. "It's out of our hands now." She mused sadly.

With their main suspects in custody and most of the loose ends tied up, all they had to do now was wait.

Nancy, on one of her many trips to check up on the moping group, released a slow breath.

"Look, why don't you guys take a break?" She recommended. "Go get a coffee or something, it's not like she's going anywhere."

"Last time I left her with you, she fell into a coma." Cath pointed out harshly. Ordinarily Nancy would have defended herself against her big sister's sharp tongue, but under the circumstances she let the comment slide.

"I promise; no one without a badge or a stethoscope is getting in here." She assured them. "Catherine, go call Lindsey. And the rest of you go stretch your legs or something." She ordered. "She'll be fine."

"Well, I do want to check in with Sofia." Brass said, heaving himself out of the hard plastic chair. "She's got Rocco in interrogation."

"And I'd better call David, make sure he hasn't dissected the wrong person." Doc hummed.

One by one they shuffled out of the room, tailed by a reluctant Greg.

"But I don't have anyone to phone." He insisted as the boys frogmarched him into the hall.

X x x

"Other than the testimony of a car thief, what evidence do you have linking my client to these crimes?" Rocco's lawyer asked testily.

To Sofia's utter chagrin, Rocco was sporting a smarmy grin.

"Oh don't worry, we have enough to push for a conviction." She assured them.

"You know, Marco-" Rocco sighed dramatically, waving a dismissive hand. "He has such an imagination."

Sofia sat forward, narrowing her eyes. "What about your boy Lucas?" she quirked an eyebrow. "We tracked him down and you know what – he rolled over on you."

Rocco, unfazed by the accusation, sat back in his seat and folded his arms across his chest.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He shrugged. "I'm here on business."

"Oh we know." Ecklie said, finally speaking up. "We checked with your company – your 'business trip' ended two weeks ago. So, what? You figure you may as well make the most of your little trip."

"You roped your nephew into stealing a car and then you beat Jack to death." Sofia snapped, getting more riled up by the second by this man's arrogance. "You blackmailed Marco into hitting William and Sara with the car and then you got your sister to make the paperwork disappear."

"We know that you tried to steal the kids from foster care." Ecklie added. "What were you planning on doing to them then?"

For the first time since the interview began, Rocco's smile faltered.

"You don't know anything." He insisted coldly.

"On the contrary," The boss continued, producing a bank receipt. "We know that you paid your garage attendant $5000 last week." He folded his hands on the table and sent the Italian man a tight smile. "That's a big bonus for a valet. Enough to fix up a broken car…"

"I just have one question." Sofia posed curiously. "Why did you wait twenty four years to get revenge?"

Once again that smirk returned to his lips and he sat back silently. If they didn't know that, they had nothing. His lawyer straightened out his paperwork and stood up, effectively ending the interview.

"If there's nothing more…"

"Just one more question." Ecklie produced another piece of paper, sliding it across the table and watching with great amusement as the cocky smile fell off Rocco's face. He pointed at the photograph – a CCTV image that Archie had gotten from the Bellagio hotel. "That's you," Ecklie drawled in an impish voice. "That's Lucas; and that's you giving Lucas a disposable cell phone which he used to call Marco right before Sara's 'accident'."

"Lucas gave us the cell phone. We've got the records and we will trace it back to you." Sofia explained slowly.

The lawyer pursed his lips, dropping back into the seat.

"Are you willing to make a deal?"

Sofia stood up, flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder and smiled sweetly.

"No."

X x x

Once she was certain the nurse had gone, she snuck across the hall and slipped through the door. With a sigh of relief she noted that Sara was still asleep.

She crept up to the bed and cast an affectionate gaze over the sleeping woman. Unconsciously, one hand reached out to stroke her cheek; running down her neck and her arm.

She knew that she shouldn't, but there was something she needed to see before she could be certain. Careful not to wake the dozing patient, she carefully rolled her onto her side and untied the hospital gown, revealing the pale skin of Sara's shoulder.

It was still there, just like she remembered. Buried beneath fresh bruises, pale and long since faded, was that telltale scar. She sucked in a breath as memories of that night flooded back to her mind. She let her fingers stroke the area tenderly, biting back a sob. She still remembered the sound of that plate as it smashed against her tiny frame.

"What the hell are you doing?" The harsh voice startled her out her reverie; she jumped, instantly retracting her hand as she found herself staring down the entirety of the Night Shift CSIs.

Without giving her chance to answer, the woman who had spoken charged past her and leant over Sara's body, checking for any new injuries.

"I didn't hurt her." She stuttered weakly, holding up her hands in defence. But it was too late; assumptions had been made.

"She alright Cath?" A young guy with a thick southern accent asked, his dark eyes glaring at her.

"Yeah." Catherine answered slowly, eyeing the woman suspiciously. An older man with a metal cane clicked past them and double-checked Sara. When he came up blank, he re-tied Sara's gown and tucked the blanket around her lovingly.

"Who are you?" A short guy in a suit barked gruffly. If she had put any thought into this, she would have answered differently.

"I'm her mother."

X x x

"After my mother died I needed to get away for a while." She explained. Contrary to the volatile personality traits put forward by her family-in-law, Laura was a softly spoken, timid woman.

"You've been missing for three years." Brass pointed out gently, placing a cup of bad hospital coffee in front of her.

"I know." She sniffed, nursing the plastic cup between her hands. "I … I had a bad turn. I stopped taking my medication." She took deep breaths between each sentence, as if she was making a determined effort to think about what she was saying. "I'm better now. I got into a hospital. When I got out, I decided I wanted to see my children."

"Which is when you called your sister-in-law to help you find them." Catherine added with a sigh.  
Suddenly things were making sense – Rocco and Elena's sudden lust for revenge had been sparked by Laura's surprise reappearance.

"Yes. I … I didn't think she'd want to help me, but I had no-one else to turn to. My mother was the only other person who kept in touch with them and after she died…I shouldn't have called her. I shouldn't have told her I was back."

"When did you know what had happened to your children?" Catherine asked, changing the subject before Laura could upset herself further.

"I read in the paper about William's accident, so I looked into the others a bit more. I came to Las Vegas as soon as I found out Sara was still alive, but I daren't come and see her at first." She paused, meeting the CSI's blue eyes. "She's going to be alright, isn't she?"

"She's going to be fine." Cath assured her. "Laura, I've known your daughter for a long time; trust me, she's a tough cookie to beat."

Brass laughed in agreement and Laura offered a grateful smile.

"She always was a little fighter." She agreed sadly. "That's why she got hurt so much – when her father hit her she wouldn't run away."

That dropped the mood and Brass and Catherine fell quiet, taking this in. It seemed the more they found out about their friend, the more they understood about what made her tick.

After a while Laura piped up again, an unexpected callousness to her voice.

"They did this to my children, didn't they?"

"Yes, I'm afraid they did." Jim answered coldly.

She dropped her head, sniffing back tears.

"It's my fault." She mumbled tearfully. "They did this to get at me. They took my boys away because I took their brother."

"No, it's not your fault." The detective assured her. "And I promise we're going to do everything we can for you and Sara."

She looked up, scrutinising their faces.

"Actually there is something you could do." She said hopefully, licking her lips.

"Sure, anything." Catherine promised.

Laura produced a note from her pocket and slipped it into Catherine's hand, folding the blonde's fingers around it carefully.

"Just, give this to Sara and … tell her I'm sorry."

She pushed herself away from the table and started to walk away, leaving them to stare in her wake.

Catherine opened the note, scanning the brief message.

"'You were never mine to keep and you're better off without me. I know you're in safe hands'." She read aloud.

"You know," Jim mused softly, releasing a deep breath. "I think that's probably the first thing she's ever done right for Sara."


	16. Chapter 16

**Since I'm sure I'm going to face backlash from the cliffhanger, I feel it's only fair to warn you now that there's only a few more chapters to go. **

**Enjoy :) x**

**x x x x**

"Doc! Hey Doc!"

Hodges tripped over his own feet in his rush to stumble into the hall before the startled coroner walked past.

"David." Al nodded, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"How's Sara?" The lab rat asked hurriedly, straightening up.

His ungraceful entrance into the hallway had drawn attention from the other techs and they began to appear in lab doorways to hear the answer. Doc cast a glance around him, noting that he'd drawn a crowd and cleared his throat.

"She's coming round." He stated, to a mix of cheers and sighs of relief.

Wendy dragged Mandy into a brief hug, watched on by a surprised Hodges.

"She wasn't fully awake." Doc continued. "They're waiting for some test results back – they're not sure why she slipped back unconscious yet."

"So, she'll be coming home soon?" Henry asked hopefully.

"Fingers crossed." He nodded, attempting to make his way through the amassed group.

"Hey," Mandy called before he could go. "So, are they others still with her?"

"Catherine's stayed in case she wakes up. The boys headed out for some breakfast then they were going back."

Questions answered, his cane clicked down the corridor to the resounding sound of delight returning to the lab.

X x x

"Hey, I forgot to tell you-" Nancy smacked Catherine's arm lightly. "You remember Nurse Sterling?"

"No." Cath droned lazily.

"Erm, Nurse Ratchet – the woman you deemed not suitable to take care of your Sleeping Beauty there." Nance elaborated.

"Oh yeah, I remember. What about her?"

"Well you needn't worry about her and her dangerous sponges anymore." The cryptic response earned her a curious look from the elder sister. "She got fired this afternoon."

"Yeah, why? Did she use a flame torch to lance a wound?"

Despite her best efforts to keep a straight face, Nancy couldn't help but smile at the question.

"No." she pursed her lips, sobering up. "A kid came in from a car accident; his foot had been severed and the paramedics packed it in a bag of ice. He'd been on his way back from a high school football practice and had the ball in another bag…"

"Oh she didn't?" Cath almost pleaded.

"Oh, she did." Nancy sighed. "I don't know who looked more shocked: the surgeon or the parents!"

"Oh God." Catherine clamped a hand over her mouth. "Is it…"

"Oh, he's not going to be playing football for a while." The nurse answered, wandering to the door. "On the plus side, this is going to keep my boss occupied for a while with paperwork."

Catherine shook her head, trying to bite back a chuckle as she watched her sibling sashay into the hall.

When she turned back to the bed, she almost jumped at the confused brown eyes blinking up at her.

"Hey." She greeted warmly, instantly reaching out to submerge her hand in Sara's dark hair. "You're awake."

Sara's eyes scanned the room, eventually settling uncertainly back on her friend's face.

"You're here." She said at last. Catherine smiled, tangling her fingers in the loose curls.

"Yeah, I'm here." She assured her.

"I've missed you." Sara mumbled, before a soft blush crept up her cheeks as her emotional slip registered. Thankfully, Catherine was too busy battling feelings of guilt to even notice her bashfulness.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry sweetie." The blonde mumbled. "But we're here now. And we're not going to let anyone hurt you again."

Sara gave her a puzzled look and Catherine realised what she'd said and what it meant. If it was anyone else she might be able to pass it off as a slip of the tongue; but this was Sara Sidle and she had well and truly put her foot in it.

Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to do the thing she'd been putting off for as long as possible.

"Sar, baby; there's something I need to tell you."

Sara quirked an eyebrow. "Baby? This must be serious." She observed.

Catherine offered a brief half smile and picked up the woman's hand, pressing it to her lips.

"It is." She agreed softly, her voice cracking. "Your accident – it wasn't an accident." Sara frowned, not following. "Someone hit you on purpose."

"Who?" The brunette squeaked. Cath peppered a kiss on her knuckles, squeezing her hand.

"Your uncle."

Sara's face fell, a myriad of emotions dancing through her eyes.

"That's why he was here. That's why he wouldn't let me see you."

"Yeah." Catherine sighed. "You're mother was trying to find you and your brothers – she got in touch with your aunt Elena; that's when they decided to track you down. To get back at her."

For a moment, Sara's face was unreadable as she processed this information. Catherine sat patiently caressing her hand as she waited for it to sink in. Eventually Sara met her gaze, a hopeful look in her eyes.

"The boys…my brothers…are they..?"

The desperate optimism in her voice was enough to make Catherine want to lie, but she had known this was coming. She shook her head slowly, letting her blue eyes close briefly.

"I'm sorry, honey." She whispered.

Sara let her head fall back into the pillows, devastation flooding her features. Tears began to build in her eyes but she blinked them back, determined to keep her composure until she was alone. She would have plenty of time to cry.

As the influx of information began to settle, something crossed her mind and she flicked her wide eyes to Catherine's.

"You know?"

Cath nodded slowly.

"Yeah, we know." There was no need to elaborate. She knew exactly what Sara was talking about.

"My mother?" Sara continued, hope creeping back into her voice and all of a sudden Catherine was very aware of the note burning a hole in her pocket. She debated showing it to Sara, but one look at the unbridled distress on her friend's face and she put the thought aside.

"She was here." The older woman answered instead, attempting to falsify lightness in her voice. "We're trying to find out where she's staying."

Judging by the disappointment in her eyes, Sara wasn't buying it. She was about to say something when Catherine cut her off, a sudden thought striking her. She released Sara's hand and began rummaging through her bag for something she had been carrying around for days.

"I have something for you." She announced, producing the freshly-washed, sewn-up teddy bear that she had acquired from the B&B.

Sara frowned at the toy, unsure of its relevance to the conversation, until recollection began to creep in.

"How…"

"We went to California; we found your old house. He was in the toy chest."

Sara reached out her sore arms and Catherine – wearing a bright smile – placed the teddy in her hands.

"My grandfather gave me this." She explained as she examined him curiously, noting all the areas that Cath had tidied up. "Right before he died."

"I figured you'd probably missed him when they took you into care."

"I did." Sara agreed quietly. In all honesty, she'd forgotten about this little titbit of goodness in her childhood; but holding him now she was suddenly reminded of the desperate loneliness of her first few days in care. Of how she had longed for anything that smelt like her home.

"Hey," Cath interrupted her thoughts. "When you get out of here I think there's someone you should call."

"Who?" Sara asked absently, still lost in her past.

"Mrs Kellogg."

Sara snapped back to the conversation.

"Susan Kellogg?" Sara clarified. "My foster carer?"

"Yeah. We spoke to her – she's not fostering anymore, since her husband died." Catherine explained. "I'm sure she'd love to hear from you."

"Yeah," Sara hummed softly. "Maybe I'll call her."

Her pensive thought was broken by the inelegant reappearance of the boys.

"Hey, look who's up!" Nicky cheered, bouncing over to the bed and throwing his arms around Sara's neck.

"Why do you get the first hug?" Greg whined, moving to the opposite side of the bed to hold her free hand.

"I think you can let go now, Nicky." Catherine laughed softly. With a reluctant groan, he gave Sara a final squeeze before releasing her entirely.

"Yeah cowboy, give someone else a chance." Warrick joked, nudging his mate aside to press a kiss to Sara's forehead. "How're you feeling, girl?"

"Better than my uncle, I'm guessing." She replied, trying to offer a light-hearted take on the situation. The boys all shared a startled look, turning to Catherine for confirmation that Sara knew the gory details.

All except Greg, who had curled himself on the bed, his spiky hair flattened against the pillow as he nestled himself beside his best friend.

"I'd like to see anyone kick us out now." He sighed contentedly, drawing a laugh from Sara.

The team smiled. It was a sound they had feared they would never hear again.

X x x

"Is that the bear from the house?" Nick asked after a long silence, noting the toy clutched in the snoozing Sara's arms. She had been lulled to sleep by the sound of Greg's heartbeat. The young man had since propped himself against the headboard and was lazily stroking her hair.

"Yeah, I brought it back for her." Catherine shrugged. "I thought it might dull the pain of dredging up her past."

Grissom leant forward curiously and attempted to pluck the bear from her grasp but Sara subconsciously tightened her grip. Cath smiled; right now it was impossible not to compare her to a small child.

"How did she take the news?" Nick asked.

"Hard to say really." She shrugged, releasing a frustrated sigh. "She didn't say much but she was obviously upset. I think it was too much for her at once."

Greg, barely listening to the conversation, frowned down at the patient.

"She looks uncomfortable." He noted.

"You would be too if she was holding you round the neck." Warrick joked playfully. Greg sent him a disapproving look.

"Not the bear. I'm talking about Sara." He explained. "Don't you think?"

As if he'd read her mind, Sara began shuffling in her sleep and her steady breathing suddenly got more laboured.

"I'll get a doctor." Gil said, jumping to his feet. However, to the boys' unanimous surprise, Catherine remained the epitome of calm as she stood up and tugged the sheets back.

Grissom, halfway out of the door, paused to survey her actions.

"Greggy, support her neck." She instructed. He did as requested, while Catherine tucked her arms under Sara's and between them they scooped her up and set her back down on her less-damaged side. The boys watched in silent surprise as Cath straightened out her gown, draped the blankets loosely over her, re-affixed the oxygen mask and tucked the teddy back into her arms; before stroking her cheek lightly as she surveyed her work.

"That better?" She asked of the sleeping girl. Sara's only response was to snuffle and lean more into her touch. Catherine smiled fondly at her. "She just wanted to be more comfortable, didn't you hon?" She cooed sweetly, reclaiming her seat.

"You a mind reader now?" Nick asked incredulously. Grissom had rejoined the group and was staring at Sara's now serene expression with bemusement.

"I should be. I've spent enough time here." She chuckled softly.

Crisis swiftly averted, they all fell back into their previous conversations as they continued to sit guard.

X x x

"You know," Nick stretched, feeling his back crack. "I think I'll actually sleep tonight."

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Warrick agreed, slapping him on the back as they meandered into the break room.

"I can't believe how much Sara sleeps." Greg joked. "I bet she's never had this much sleep her whole life."

"She's still in recovery Greg." Grissom responded, ignoring the joke. "The more rest she gets the faster she'll be home."

"Hmm, few more days." Cath hummed happily. "I'll go round and clean her apartment before she's released."

"I'll help you." Warrick agreed.

Once the coffee was passed round and the sofa was occupied, they lapsed into a comfortable silence. One which was promptly broken by an oddly troubled Wendy.

"Dr Grissom." She squeaked. "I need to speak to you."

The entomologist hurried into the hall after her, followed by an uninvited Catherine, leaving the boys to share a concerned look.

"What's wrong Wendy?" Gil asked once the trio reached the privacy of her lab.

She took a deep breath, holding a results folder close to her chest.

"Okay, before you ask I already checked and triple checked this."

"What?" Catherine snapped nervously. Wendy bit her lip.

"I ran all the samples in the case, looking for any matches and I realised something. Sara's DNA was nothing like Rocco's. And, since he's her father's brother and all, there should be a high similarity." She paused, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "So, I tested Sara's DNA against Laura's sample collected by Detective Brass at the hospital."

"Okay." Gil pressed, agitation creeping into his voice.

"No match."

"I'm sorry?" Catherine blinked.

"She is Laura Sidle." Wendy explained, showing them the results. "But she is not Sara's biological mother."

"That's impossible." Cath shook her head disbelievingly. "I spoke to her. I've seen the photos of them together."

"Oh, it gets worse." The lab rat said, handing Grissom a second piece of paper. "In order to check the results, I compared Laura's and Rocco's DNA to Jack and William's."

"These match." He frowned.

"Yeah." She agreed, biting the inside of her cheek. "But they don't match Sara – not even close."

"Oh, my God." Cath breathed, realising what they were being told.

"I don't know who Sara is. But she is not a Sidle."


	17. Chapter 17

**It's very late in the day so I really hope this chapter makes sense**

**x x x x  
**

"So, what?" Nick frowned. "You're saying she was adopted?"

"I don't think so." Catherine pulled a face. "If she was we'd have found some record of it."

After a brief, hushed discussion, the supervisors and Wendy had gathered the rest of the team to discuss the bizarre new development.

"We can't have gotten this all wrong from the start – can we?" Warrick asked anxiously.

"Sara was raised by Laura and Angelo Sidle." Grissom insisted. "That much we know."

"But she's not biologically theirs." Greg added. "So if she wasn't adopted then where did she come from?"

Wendy released a thoughtful breath, drumming her fingertips on the edge of the table. "Okay; so her DNA doesn't match her family, there are no medical records for the first few months of her life and you never found a birth certificate." She listed out loud.

Catherine nodded slowly as the lab tech spoke, letting the pieces of the puzzle fall into place in her mind. Suddenly she snapped her head up, her eyes wide with realisation.

"Kidnapping?" She asked softly. "You think she was snatched?"

Grissom, who had clearly already had the same thought, met her gaze across the table.

"Yeah," he licked his lips. "I do."

X x x

"I checked with all California Police Stations and Hospitals. There was no record of a baby girl going missing in late 1973 to early 1974." Sofia sighed dejectedly.

"Widen the time frame and the search area – stick to the Midwest states for now." Grissom instructed, running a hand through his hair – which was beginning to resemble Rod Stewart's more than his own.

"Okay." She nodded, grateful for something new to focus on as she scuttled to the door.

"I'd stick to 1974." Catherine called before she left. "Her earliest medical record is from four months old and she was underweight then – maybe she was younger than they claimed she was."

The detective nodded abruptly, disappearing into the busy hallway.

Cath released a shuddering breath, her shoulders visibly shaking with the effort. Grissom scowled at the movement, glancing around the room uncertainly to confirm that they were alone.

"You okay?" He asked.

When she lifted her gaze from the table, there were tears streaming down her cheeks.

"What the hell did she do to deserve this?" She hiccupped. Startled, Grissom moved around the bench and placed an arm awkwardly around her shoulders. She leaned heavily into the embrace, turning into his strong chest.

"I don't know." He answered quietly, pulling her into the crook of his neck and resting his chin on the top of her head.

"I mean, why would they steal her from a family just to abuse her?" The blonde continued, her voice rising and cracking with each wave of sobs.

Grissom, who had been holding himself together pretty well until now, felt his resolve wavering as Catherine's emotion drained into him.

One lone tear broke free from his baby-blue eyes, then another. He held her tighter, scrunching his eyes closed in a desperate bid to hold himself together for his oldest friend's sake.

Nick obliviously stepped into the room, but one look at the pair and he stumbled backwards into the hall, blindly falling into Warrick in the process.

"Whoa!" The dark-skinned man narrowly dodged out of his way. "You know, some people can do that forwards too." He joked. However, one look at his mate's face and he dropped the humour. "What's wrong?"

Nick nodded into the layout room, where his eyes were still trained on their supervisors.

He felt Warrick's hand on his shoulder as the man joined him in staring in shock. Catherine's meltdown was understandable – if anything it had been a long time coming – but in the accumulated time Nick and Warrick had known Gil Grissom they had never seen him show an ounce of sentiment.

Anger, yes; delight, on occasion; but sadness? Grief? Never.

Quietly, so as not to alert their presence to Cath and Gil, Nick leant into the room and gently swung the door shut to afford them some privacy in their moment together. Alone in the hall, the two men turned to each other with matching wide-eyed expressions.

"Team meeting?" Warrick suggested, quirking an eyebrow.

X x x

"Okay, so I'll look into Laura and Angelo's travel records in 1973 and 1974." Greg stated. "If they snatched her from another state or country then there must be some record of them being there."

"Good." Nick nodded in agreement.

They had collared Greg and relocated to the break room, where they were coming up with a plan of action. If the team leaders were going to fall apart, someone had to keep the team going.

"I'll hook up with Sofia and help her with the police and hospital records – the more hands on deck the sooner we get through them." The Texan continued.

"It's a long shot, but I'll meet Brass and see if we can get anything out of Rocco and Elena." Warrick yawned; downing the last of his coffee before standing up and attempting to shake some life into his muscles. "Maybe a night in the cells has loosened their tongues a little."

X x x

"Alright, let's cut the crap." Jim's aggressive entrance to the room made the stoic Italian jump. The detective slammed a photo of baby Sara – obtained from her social services file – onto the table and tapped it forcefully with his middle finger. "Where did they take her from?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rocco shrugged casually, pretending to be occupied in prising something from beneath his fingernail.

Jim choked out a dry laugh; a sound which was deeply recognisable to those who knew him as anything but an expression of amusement.

"Your brother stole her from somewhere and _I_ know that _you_ know damn well what I'm talking about."

"Did you help him?" Warrick asked, sliding into a seat across from the sullen man. His weather-worn face looked paler than last time anyone had seen him and there was a heaviness to his expression that belayed his exhaustion; for the first time he looked old, but his dark eyes still flamed at the question.

"I'm not in the baby-stealing business." He remarked sarcastically.

"But your bother was." Brass retorted. "So what was it? Did he just get fed up beating up boys? Decided he wanted a change?"

"Dio, voi siete stolti." The man muttered under his breath. "Angelo didn't take Sara." He scoffed. "He didn't even want kids."

"Ah." Jim nodded, finally sitting down. "That's why he was such a 'caring, family man' huh?"

"I never said he didn't love them." Rocco snapped tersely. "Just that he didn't want them." He shook his head, his eyes rolling lazily to the ceiling. "That crazy bitch, she was obsessed with children."

"Laura?" Warrick clarified, sending Brass a sideways glance.

"Of course!" He erupted, straightening up in his seat. "You know what that bitch did, don't you? She risked everything – my brother lost his job, his home; they could have lost the boys … all because she just couldn't help herself!"

"Alright, back up a bit." Jim held his hands up in a calming motion. "So, Laura took Sara?"

Rocco sent them an irritated look, his foot tapping impatiently against the cold floor.

"Yes, Laura took Sara." He reiterated through clenched teeth. "They had to move so that the neighbours wouldn't get suspicious about the new baby in the house. Angelo had to give up his job."

"Why didn't you report her to the police?" Warrick asked.

"Because." He huffed, folding his arms across his chest.

"Now come on," Jim laughed. "You're going to have to do better than that."

He looked up, scanning their faces. Whether fatigue or resignation, they would never know, but something seemed to take over his body as his shoulders slumped weakly.

"Because we helped them cover it up."

X x x

Ecklie wasn't sure what he'd missed, but there was definitely an odd atmosphere in the room and Grissom and Catherine were studiously avoiding each other's gaze.

Shaking it off, the boss cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Why are Brass and Warrick re-interviewing Rocco Sidle?" He asked. "I thought this case was closed."

Catherine and Grissom exchanged a puzzled glance.

"That case is closed." Grissom agreed. "We still don't know where they snatched Sara from."

"So, you're hoping that Rocco might give you some insight?" Ecklie assumed. Grissom chewed on his lower lip for a moment before answering.

"I haven't told Warrick to do anything." He replied honestly. Ecklie gave him an impatient look.

"The Sherriff wants this case closed as soon as possible." He twitched at the mere mention of his boss and the CSIs bit back a smile. They had to feel sorry for the man; he had taken the brunt of the pressure from On High. In truth, they owed him a lot for letting them get on with this relatively uninterrupted.

"You can tell the Sherriff not to worry." Catherine assured him. "Once we've tied up the loose ends the case will be closed and signed off."

"Good." He nodded abruptly. "And please keep track of your guys, Gil." He issued a final plea, before making to leave.

As he turned his eye caught something lying haphazardly atop a stack of paperwork on the table and he paused. He picked up the faded picture and stroked the tiny face with the pad of his thumb.

"Someone must have missed this little girl." He sighed, before placing it carefully back on the table and straightening up, all business again. "Call me when you've got caught up."

X x x

"Where was she taken from?" Jim demanded.

"I don't know!" He ran a hand over his face. "Angelo called Elena in a panic because Laura had had one of her episodes; he said this time she'd done something really stupid." Rocco flexed his knuckles, wincing as they cracked. "So, she went around there and…"

"…Surprise." Jim finished, raising his eyebrows.

"If not for us, they would have been arrested. Those boys would have been taken away."

"What do you mean, 'if not for us'?" Warrick pressed, pen poised over the notepad. He neglected to add that it would probably have been better for the kids all round if they had been taken into care sooner.

"We found them a house, real cheap because it needed a lot of work doing. Elena looked after the kids while they moved to avoid suspicion." He explained. "I loaned Angelo money to set the house up as a hotel so they could be self-employed, that way he could keep his dirty little secret out of work."

"Wow. You really thought of everything." Warrick nodded, almost managing to sound impressed. "You sure you don't do this for a living?"

Rocco, either exercising restraint or too tired to care at this point, ignored the comment and continued.

"Elena altered Laura's medical record to state she'd had three children and agreed to provide an alibi if you guys ever came knocking. We risked everything for them." He hissed. "And after all that, after she killed our brother, she has the gall to ask for our help in tracking them down!"

Brass' trained ear picked up the slip and he sat forward.

"So, this was about Angelo?" He queried. Rocco pursed his lips, realising his error. He shook his head slowly, a despicable grin spreading across his face.

"No. This was about self-preservation."

Warrick cottoned on faster than Brass, his green eyes narrowing in concentration.

"She threatened to tell the police that you assisted in the kidnapping, unless you helped her track them down."

"So why kill them?" Brass asked, catching on. "Why draw attention to yourselves with a threat like that hanging over you?"

"Because she needed to learn." He spat. "You can kill our brother, you can taint our name but you do _not_ blackmail our family."

Brass leant over the table, holding the man's dark eyes with his own clear blue ones.

"You mean to tell me that you killed your nephews and you tried to kill your niece, because a vulnerable, schizophrenic woman threatened to call the police on you about a thirty-two year old crime?"

Rocco's lips turned into a sneer.

"You know the most valuable asset in any situation, detective?" He asked.

"Power." Warrick answered before Brass could open his mouth.

"Exactly. Power." Rocco cracked his knuckles again. "Laura thought that she held all the cards, because she had the children and with them she could send us both down. Elena would lose her job at the hospital, her whole reputation."

"And you would go to prison for aiding and abetting a kidnapper." Jim added. "Too bad, you got murder. Which holds a mandatory life sentence – if they don't give you the gas chamber."

The criminalists stood up to leave, but Rocco wasn't going to let them until he'd said his piece.

"I will do anything for my family – including lie for them!" He hollered. "But I will not be blackmailed by them! She asked us to help her find them and we did – but she still had to pay!"

Warrick, uncharacteristically calm after his tirade, turned to face the breathless man with a cold stare.

"Laura has to bury her sons." He agreed softly. "But she's not the one whose paying for this."


	18. Chapter 18

**Sorry for the delay, had some personal issues to tend to**

**I hope that this chapter makes up for it  
**

**x x x x**

"Okay," Grissom groaned, rolling his shoulders to wake up his tired muscles. "The Sherriff is on Ecklie's back, which means Ecklie is on my back. So, where are we?"

When no one moved to offer any findings, Brass cleared his throat and stepped up.

"Well, according to Rocco it was all Laura; and they he and Elena helped them cover it up because Angelo begged them to."

"But we can't confirm or disprove that until we find Laura or find out where she took Sara from." Warrick added.

"Sofia and Greg are still working on that." Nicky assured him.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Grissom asked. Oddly enough, he wasn't quite ready to put all their stock in the word of a man capable of killing his own family.

"Angelo was an alcoholic and a thug." Brass stated, pulling a face. "I can't really see him stealing a kid to raise as his own – he wasn't exactly a paternal creature."

"Is it possible Rocco or Elena took her?" Gil pressed. "That would give them more motive for wanting the kids dead."

"Yeah, and she does work in a hospital." Nick jumped in. "She would have access to newborns."

"Well Gil, anything's possible in this case." Jim shrugged. "But Rocco's going down for murder. Why lie about a kidnapping from thirty years ago?"

"And that wouldn't explain why he went after the boys." Warrick drummed his fingers on the table in thought. "No, their motive had nothing to do with hiding the evidence or getting revenge – they were making a point. Laura threatened to tell the police everything if they didn't help because they had everything to lose and she had nothing."

"Nothing except her children." Catherine interjected forlornly.

"Yeah, and they made damn sure that she knew that." Brass growled. "They were never going to let her hold the upper hand for long."

After a long silence as the finality of it all sank in, Grissom cleared his throat.

"So," he said softly. "It's over."

"Yeah," Jim coughed. "You can tell Ecklie he can rest easy; he can inform the Sherriff that the case is officially closed." In a symbolic gesture of conclusiveness, he slammed the case file shut.

"What about Sara?" Warrick asked.

"Greg and Sofia can keep working on it." Grissom assured him. "In the meantime, we can start to deal with the backlog of cases."

"One more thing Boss." Nick jumped in before the team could disband. "With William and Sara, Rocco made sure to keep his hands clean – but I think I know why he took it upon himself to beat Jack to death."

"Okay." Grissom nodded him along in anticipation.

"Jack was nearly seven when we first have a record of Sara being in that house." The Texan reasoned. "That's old enough for him to work out that she wasn't 'born' to them. Maybe as he got older he worked out where his little sister really came from."

"And what does that have to do with the case?" Catherine queried. Nick flexed his knuckles, talking fast at the excitement of having figured something out before his supervisors.

"According to Marco, Rocco lured William to his death by telling him he had news about Laura. Maybe he was trying to do the same with Jack."

"He met him in the bar intending to arrange another meeting, where they would stage another car accident." Grissom nodded, catching on. "A hit-and-run maybe?"

"Exactly." Nick agreed. "But Jack saw through him. Maybe he realised that the only reason Rocco was 'helping' Laura was because she was blackmailing him."

"And if Rocco thought Jack knew about his hand in covering up the kidnapping and might go to the police, he wouldn't have had a choice." Warrick joined in. "He had to silence him then and there."

"We can't prove any of this." Grissom pointed out.

"We don't need to." Catherine shook her head softly, her blue eyes fixed on the table. "He did it and he's going to prison for it; that's all that matters now."

X x x

"Laura spent two years in Europe as a teenager." Greg shared his findings. "She met Angelo, travelled back to America with him and got married."

"After she got knocked up." Sofia interposed. Greg nodded in concession.

"That may be so; but other than that I can't find any record of her leaving the state, let alone the country." He sighed disconsolately. He had so wanted to break this case for Sara; yet it seemed his efforts were in vain.

Picking up on his gloomy demeanour, Sofia offered a weak smile.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better I'm coming up blank too." She groaned, pushing her chair away from the computer screen. "I have gone through even missing child report over a three year span and nothing!" She ran a hand through her long blonde hair, before shaking it out sullenly. "The closet matches are a baby girl who disappeared from a hospital in October 1973 and a four month old who was abducted from her home in December 1973."

"And?" Greg pressed hopefully.

"And nothing." Sofia threw her hands up. "Both babies were found and returned to their rightful parents. Both kidnappers were arrested."

Greg pursed his lips in deep concentration.

"What if we're going about this wrong?" He asked at last. The detective turned her weary eyes to him, raising a questioning eyebrow in hopes of elaboration. "We're searching for missing kids; what if she was never reported missing?"

"Then I don't know how we're supposed to track her down."

"According to the court transcripts of Angelo's murder trial, Laura had a miscarriage which caused her to suffer a mental break." The young man explained, excitement building in his voice with every word. "She started hanging around orphanages and parks, watching kids – Laura's psychologist used it as an example of how a traumatic event caused her to suffer a schizophrenic episode."

"When did she miscarry?" Sofia asked, realising where he was going with this.

"They weren't specific; but, what if she didn't just watch the kids…"

"…she helped herself to one to replace the baby she'd lost." She finished for him. "I'll make a list of California orphanages that were around in 1973."

"It's a long shot, but I'll see if I can find out more detail about when she lost her baby." He scuttled off, ecstatic at the prospect of a new lead.

X x x

"Newborn baby girl, approximately five pounds, abandoned outside a police station on September 16th." Greg announced, tossing a copy of the report onto the table.

"The police put out an appeal to the public for information and in the meantime she was put in Larkin Street Orphanage." Sofia added. "It's not used for that purpose anymore but the records are still available. It took some digging but they eventually confirmed that the abandoned baby went missing in January 1974."

"Which is a month after Laura had a miscarriage and is reported to have started hanging around kids." Greg explained.

"And no one reported her going missing?" Grissom asked in disbelief.

"Why bother?" Cath shrugged despondently, sliding onto a stool. "Her birth parents obviously didn't want her and it was one less child for the orphanage to find a home for."

"They assumed her birth mother had stolen her back." Sofia confirmed. "Or so they claimed."

"So, they pretended like it never happened." Jim sighed. "Charming."

"Well, I doubt her parents are going to come forward after all this time." Gil breathed. "So, what more can we do? We've checked her DNA; there are no direct family members in the system."

"She didn't come from nowhere." Nick scowled. "There must be some way to track down her birth mother."

"It was probably a teenage girl who was too scared to tell her family." Sofia reasoned.

"What I want to know," Warrick licked his lips in thought," Is why Sara? Out of all the kids she was watching, why break into an orphanage to take her?"

Catherine picked up the piece of paper Greg had left on the table. It was an old newspaper article petitioning for information and there was a fuzzy picture of this tiny baby wrapped in a cream blanket.

"She probably saw her on the news and believed it was her child." She said absently. "She felt like her baby had been taken away and all of a sudden there was one who needed a home. She didn't think she was stealing Sara; she was just taking her baby back."

Nick scoffed, shaking his head.

"Schizophrenia or not, how do you fool yourself into thinking stealing a child is okay?"

"She didn't have to fool herself Nicky." Catherine informed him earnestly. "Laura probably genuinely believed that Sara was her's. She could have invented memories of giving birth or excuses for not remembering it. She wasn't hanging around outside orphanages to watch the kids – she was plotting a way to get in."

"Maybe that's why Angelo wouldn't let the police get involved." Brass agreed. "If Laura thought he was trying to take her children away again, maybe she threatened to leave with them."

"She reacted like any mother would; protecting her children." Cath agreed. "All three of them."

"So, Angelo did what he had to do to keep his family together. He moved them away, set up a home and raised Sara like his own."

"Yeah, his own to beat." Warrick huffed.

"So," Jim breathed, placing his hands flat on the table. "I guess the question now is do we tell her?"

Grissom cocked an eyebrow at the detective.

"We can't lie to her." He insisted. "She has a right to know that the people who hurt her aren't her real family."

"Yeah, I agree." Nick nodded. "I think we should tell her."

"Tell her what, exactly?" Sofia asked, her voice rising erratically. "I'm sorry your brothers are dead, Sara. Oh, but they're not really your brothers because your parents kidnapped you from a children's home. Your real parents didn't care enough to keep you."

"I wouldn't exactly phrase it like that." Jim commented dryly.

"I don't see what good it would do now." Cath sighed. "It's not going to change what happened to her. It's not going to bring anyone back." She pushed herself away from the table, sloping to the door. "Everyone who hurt her is either dead, locked up or MIA. Right now the best thing for her is to forget they ever existed."

"Where are you going?" Grissom inquired softly. She turned, a helpless expression on her face.

"I'm going to the hospital. I need to feel like I'm doing something for her."

X x x

"Alright," Sara sighed after several minutes of watching Catherine stare into space. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Huh?" Cath asked eloquently, attempting to disguise the emotions that had been flooding her features and failing miserably.

"Come on Cat," Sara gave her an even look. "You didn't come here to stare at the wall."

Cath at least had the decency to look abashed as she chuckled softly.

"No, I didn't." She agreed softly.

"What's wrong?" Sara pressed.

Her injuries starting to heal and her bruises fading into a dull green, Sara was able to sit up against the pillows now, allowing her to level her gaze with Catherine's.

The strawberry-blonde shrugged, attempting to appear indifferent.

"It's nothing you need to worry about." She lied. Sara responded with a sceptical look.

"How long have we known each other?" She questioned rhetorically, quirking an eyebrow.

Again, Cath laughed.

"You're good." She acknowledged.

"I know." Sara answered easily. "So, spill. What don't I know?"

She took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was to come.

"Okay, I wasn't going to tell you this yet but since you insist…" She let her gaze fall momentarily to the mattress, composing herself. Eventually she looked back up, her blue eyes glistening. Sara was watching her with unbridled concern, almost wishing she hadn't pushed the issue now. But it was too late to go back. Catherine gripped her hand, rubbing comforting circles on the inside of her wrist as she spoke in a soft, even voice. "It's about your mother…"


	19. Chapter 19

**Nearly at the end now :) Greg-lite this chapter, but don't worry; he's going to get more time in the next one :) **

**x x x x**

For a whole two minutes, Sara didn't move. She didn't even flinch when Catherine reached out a tentative hand and let her fingertips caress the brunette's arm. She continued to stare into space obliviously as the words registered.

"Sar?" Cath pressed gently when she still didn't respond. "Honey, say something?"

"Like what?" Sara asked in a dazed voice.

"Are you okay?" It was a stupid question under the circumstances; but along with a helpless shrug, it was all she had to offer.

"Yeah." Sara breathed. "Why wouldn't I be?" There was a familiar tension in the way she spoke, one that Catherine recognised from numerous run-ins with the feisty brunette. It meant that she was anything but okay.

"Sara, its okay to be upset." She said carefully, tightening her grip on her friend's arm. "This is huge news to take in."

Sara's eyes flashed to hers, wide and fretful.

"Upset?" She repeated. "About what? About the fact that my mother didn't want me, or because the people who got stuck with me didn't care when I disappeared?" She asked, her distress rising with each statement. "Or the fact that the people who took me still didn't care enough to look after me!"

"Alright, calm down." Cath shushed, stroking her hair gently. "It's okay." The last thing she wanted was for Sara to work herself up too much and set her recovery back. They had already leant the hard way that it didn't take much for her to slip back into unconscious oblivion.

Sara turned her watery eyes to Catherine's face, searching it for the answers she desperately needed.

"What do I do?" She hiccupped weakly. Cath offered a sympathetic look, sliding an arm awkwardly around her shoulders and pressing a kiss to her face as she mumbled against her skin;

"You don't have to do anything. We're going to get you through this."

Sara turned, nestling her face into the crook of Catherine's neck. Without loosening her grip on the trembling woman, Cath slid out of her chair and settled herself on the bed. Sara adjusted easily to the position, curling against the warm body.

"We're going to take this one day at a time." The blonde continued once they were both comfortable. "First, we're going to concentrate on getting you home. Then we're going to help you sort out your brothers' assets – and we're going to get you a grief counsellor, someone impartial that you can talk to." She was rambling and she knew it but if she didn't keep talking then the only noise in the small room would be the heartbreaking sound of Sara's cries.

X x x

They didn't need to ask; Catherine's demeanour said it all.

"How did she take it?" Nick enquired uncertainly as she sloped into the break room, shoulders slumped. She threw her hands up, shaking her head despondently in response.

"How would you take it if I told you that you were a stolen baby?"

The boys nodded miserably in understanding.

"She gonna be alright?" Warrick asking, wrapping Catherine into a hug from behind. She leant into him, releasing a shaky breath.

"Eventually." She hummed. "It's all so much for her to deal with at the moment; she needs some time to absorb it. I think right now she's angry more than anything."

"She'll come to terms with it." Rick assured her.

"Maybe we could do something to help ease some of the stress." Greg suggested. "We could start to make some arrangements for the funerals?"

"Sara's going to have to make the big decisions." Nick pointed out.

"Yeah, but we could get their papers in order?" The younger man pressed, clearly desperate for something to do. Nick cocked his head to the side.

"Yeah, yeah okay." He agreed, slapping Greg on the shoulder. "I don't think Jack had much, so we could start with William."

"What do you think; joint funeral?" Warrick asked, propping his chin up on the top of Catherine's head.

"I think that would be easier on her." The blonde agreed. "Burying one brother would be hard enough; I don't think she could go through it twice." She shrugged out of the embrace and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm going back later, I'll ask her then."

"I'll come with you." Rick assured her.

Catherine nodded tiredly, scanning the features of the men. Despite his previous enthusiasm, Greg's shoulders had hunched and his gaze was glued to the floor glumly. It was impossible not to take pity on the young man. With his best friend out of action, he had been inconsolable lately.

"There is something else you can do, Greg." He looked up sharply, nodding eagerly. "If her test results come back okay she should be released in a few days – you could get her apartment ready? I haven't been in a few days so there's probably some mail built up."

"Okay, no problem." He agreed instantly. "I can do that." Catherine smiled gratefully, glad to see a little spark back in his dark eyes.

X x x

"Do you think it's about her mother?" Hodges whispered conspiratorially. "I heard that she disappeared from the hospital and no one's seen her since."

"I heard that her uncle confessed." Henry added.

The lab rats peered across the hall curiously, feebly attempting to hide behind the glass walls. They could see the team huddled together talking, like they had been for the last couple of days. Warrick had Catherine wrapped in his arms, like he was comforting her.

For a brief, heart-stopping moment when they saw Catherine wandering through the halls on the verge of tears, they had thought the worse. However, when it became clear that their fears were unfounded they had calmed down and settled for spying on the graveyard team in the hopes of figuring out the big secret.

All except Wendy, who was keeping very quiet at the back of the group.

Clearly the team wanted to keep the little surprise of Sara's heritage secret and she wasn't about to break that silence.

But she was mainly doing it for Sara.

As a teenager she had had her fair share of fights with her parents and her sister. But she could still rest easy in the fact that they were her family. Sara didn't even have that comfort.

"Ahem." A stern voice startled them and one by one the techs stumbled over each other in a pathetic attempt to hide the fact that they were spying.

"Conrad." Ecklie greeted in an unusually high voice. "We were just…"

"Oh, I know what you were doing, _David_." The boss grimaced. "What I would like to know is why I have a backlog of evidence and six empty labs."

Getting the hint, they scattered in every direction; all except Hodges, who panicked and ended up not moving at all. He offered a weak grin and tried to lean casually against the doorframe.

"So, did you read the latest Journal of Forensic Science? I thought the article on soil analysis was particularly…"

"Back to work Hodges!" Ecklie barked.

Catching the eye of the night shift CSIs, who had heard his outburst, he flashed a devilish grin as Hodges practically hopped across the room towards the sanctity of his lab.

X x x

The only sound when they crept into the room was the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor and Sara's soft breathing. She was asleep, her back to the door and her old teddy bear clutched in the crook of her arm.

"Aw man." Warrick grinned. "That is so cute." Humming in agreement, Catherine leant over her body and stroked her cheek gently.

Sara stirred at the interruption to her nap, but any dissent soon faded when her sleep-glazed eyes fell on the intruder in question.

"Hey," she mumbled, rolling onto her back. Cath smiled, settling on the edge of the bed.

"How're you feeling?" She asked warmly, brushing Sara's hair aside.

"Everything aches." The young woman frowned, shuffling up a bit more. She noticed Warrick lingering by the door for the first time and smiled in greeting, encouraging him to come further into the room. He, like the other men, always felt like they were intruding on a private moment when the blonde fell into maternal mode.

"That means you're healing." Cath assured her. "Nancy's going to put you in touch with a physiotherapist as soon as you're ready."

"Yay." Sara mumbled unenthusiastically, earning her a playful nudge from Warrick.

"You're not afraid of a little hard work are you?" He teased, knowing the reaction it would gleam. Sure enough, Sara bristled.

"Of course not." She scowled stubbornly.

Cath and Rick shared a smile, glad to see a hint of their girl back.

More alert now, Sara glimpsed something in Warrick's hand just out of her line of sight and, curiosity peaked, she leant around to catch a better look.

Spotting the movement, Warrick twitched nervously, looking to Catherine for help. She took Sara's hand between her own, regaining her attention.

"Honey," she began hesitantly. "We wanted to talk to you about your brothers' funerals."

"Oh." Sara deflated slightly, sinking against the pillows. "Okay." She had known on some level that this was coming, but whenever the thoughts crept into her mind she'd tried to push them away.

Warrick slid into a seat beside the bed, placing a hand on her arm.

"We don't have to do this now, if you're not ready." He reassured her.

"No, no it's okay." She insisted, straightening up. "I'm going to have to deal with it sometime, right?"

Offering an encouraging smile, he produced the leaflet he'd been attempting to hide behind his back. It was only a basic guide, the details could be worked out later. It had dawned on them that Sara possibly hadn't had to arrange a funeral on her own before, let alone two at once.

"We're going to make the arrangements; you don't need to worry about that." Rick jumped in quickly. "We just wanted to know if there's anything specific you wanted – or anything you think the boys might have wanted."

She exhaled slowly, offering a weak shrug.

"I haven't spoken to them in years." She admitted. "I guess cremation."

"Okay." Warrick nodded, sharing a hopeful look with Catherine. It was a start.

"I wish I'd known them better." Sara mumbled softly. "This might be easier if I knew more about them."

"I think they'd be grateful for what you're doing." Catherine assured her. "Just do whatever you think."

For a few minutes, they lapsed into silence as Sara contemplated the massive decisions facing her.

"Pieta House." She stated randomly at last. Cath and Warrick exchanged a puzzled look but it was Catherine who took the bait.

"I'm sorry?" She questioned.

"It's a suicide and self-harm prevention charity." Sara explained. "When Jack was a teenager he attempted suicide a lot. In the few times I talked to him afterwards, he always said he wished there had been someone to help him."

"Okay," Warrick pursed his lips, hoping that Cath knew where she was going with this because he didn't have a clue.

"I can't imagine they had much." Sar continued softly, toying with the edge of the blanket. "But whatever's left after the funeral, I think we should donate."

Catherine smiled, squeezing her hand gently.

"I think that's a great idea." She agreed. Getting that distinct feeling that he was intruding again, Warrick stood up and stretched.

"I'll go call Nick, let him know so he can make a start." He said, dropping a kiss on the top of Sara's head before departing.

Alone with the older woman, Sara released a sigh.

"I just want everything to go back to how it was." She murmured sadly.

"I know; and it will." Cath breathed. She held out her arms and pulled Sara into her, rubbing comforting circles on her friend's back. "One day at a time."


	20. Chapter 20

**Only one (possibly two) more chapters to go! I hope you like this one :)**

**x x x x**

It almost felt wrong, sneaking into Sara's flat. As he latched the door and pocketed the spare key he had to keep reminding himself that he was doing this for her.

Catherine hadn't been exaggerating when she'd said there might be a build up of mail – he'd nearly lost half if it climbing the stairs. It didn't help that the majority of it seemed to be catalogues and magazines. Having got it into the apartment in one piece, he opted to sort that first. Cath had already developed a system of piles: magazines, personal, bills and junk. The latter, he decided, could bypass the owner and he dumped the stack in the trash can.  
Grissom had organised some sort of deal with her utilities so that she could catch up on payments when she was out of hospital. Thankfully, Greg noted, there weren't too many for her to worry about.

With that small task out of the way, he scanned the little apartment in search of another job. He didn't really know why Catherine had sent him here, other than to give him something to occupy his growing anxiety. But while he was here, he was damn well going to make himself useful.

Cleaning, he decided at last. He could clean the flat. After a brief hunt, he found her products and began dusting the furniture.  
Contrary to his apartment's reputation, he was actually surprisingly house-proud. It was a habit that had been forced upon him at his mother's insistence. And the fact that she used to turn up unannounced when he was in college meant he had to keep his side of the dorm tidy, even if his roommate made no such effort.

While cleaning her bookshelf he took to opportunity to scan her music collection, making a mental note of which albums he wanted to borrow. He would be spending plenty of time here in the coming weeks anyway as Sara healed, so he would bring his laptop one day and they could trade music.

Her film collection was less than extensive, however. Noting the incline towards action films, he decided he would bring his own round to keep her occupied. They could have movie nights, he smiled to himself.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned and, mewling pitifully on the balcony, was a small tabby cat.

Sara didn't have a cat.

Greg slid the balcony door open and the kitten wandered in, emitting a disgruntled grumble at being kept waiting. He scooped the little furball up, scratching behind it's ear.

"Ah, you're a neighbour." He noted the address on the tag. "Well I'm sorry little cat, Sara's not here right now." He placed it back on its paws, hoping it would leave of it's own volition. Instead, it scampered across the apartment and jumped onto the counter, sitting down in front of a specific cupboard. Greg was beginning to get the impression that this little creature was a regular visitor to Casa Di Sidle.

At the cat's insistence he opened the cupboard and sure enough there were several sachets of food.

"Alright, alright." He muttered when the kitten continued to cry until he placed a bowl on the counter for her. "Do your owners know you're cheating on them?" He asked rhetorically.

Houseguest dealt with, he turned back to the apartment, head cocked to the side in concentration.

Sara was going to be on crutches for a while when she left the hospital. Her apartment was nice, but the layout was not at all conducive to crutches.

X x x

"Well, we might not be entirely caught up by I think we made a fair dent in the case load tonight." Nick said proudly, slipping his jacket on. "You up for a celebratory breakfast at Franks?"

"I don't know about breakfast, but I could sure use a coffee before I drive home." Warrick agreed. "I don't know about the others."

"Cath begged off early to take Lindsey to school." The Texan replied. "And Greg was heading to Sara's apartment. I don't know where Grissom snuck off to."

"Oh well, their loss." Rick shrugged, tossing his spare clothes into a bag to take home and wash before next shift.

"Yup, just you and me hombre." Nick grinned. "Hey, do you think we should try and sneak something into the hospital? Sara's probably sick of hospital tripe by now."

"Nah, she's in physio this morning." Warrick reminded him.

"Oh yeah, it's her first session right?" Nick pursed his lips. "Maybe she'd prefer a shot of whisky then, huh?"

"More like a bottle." They shared a small chuckle at her expense, drifting into a comfortable silence as they gathered their things together.

"I can't wait until she's back." Nicky sighed at last. "It feels like she's been gone ages."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Rick hummed. "The place hasn't been the same without her."

"No." Nick cleared his throat in an attempt to cut the depressed mood that had befallen them. "Anyway, breakfast. And since I'm feeling _so_ generous, I'll even let you pay."

"Yeah, I can see that." Warrick scoffed, following him into the hallway.

"See what?" Hodges asked, slinking between them. The boys exchanged a look.

"Breakfast." The Texan explained. "You want in?"

The lab rat stopped in the middle of the hallway, a bewildered expression settling on his face.

"You want me to come?" He asked earnestly. They shrugged awkwardly, with Nick offering a small smile.

"Hey man, I'd never refuse someone bacon." He joked, slapping the tech on the shoulder.

Hodges' surprise quickly melted into glee at being invited into the family routine and he practically skipped off the locker room.

X x x

He stepped back, hands on his hips and smiled appreciatively.

"I could be an interior designer." He commented, turning to the cat for agreement. She, having relocated to the end of Sara's bed, merely flicked her tail in response.

Still, whether the feline agreed or not, he was proud of his work. He had managed not to disrupt Sara's layout too much, but had opened up the apartment a bit to allow her easier access around the flat.

He dropped onto the couch, worn out from his exertion. It suddenly dawned on him just how long he'd been here.

Perhaps once they'd caught up on their case load he could swing it with Grissom to have a couple of nights off. That way he could stay with Sara – on the couch of course – so if she needed anything in the night she wouldn't have to get up.

On second thoughts, he realised, Sara would throw him out at the first sign of being babysat.

Still, he reminded himself with a contented smile; she was coming home.

He was getting his best friend back.

X x x

She swore she was only going to close her eyes for a second.

However, when she opened them again her daughter had materialised beside her on the couch, dressed for school and mid-way through a bowl of cereal.

"What time is it?" Catherine startled herself upright, earning her an odd look from Lindsey.

"It's half seven." The teenager assured her. "You've only been asleep twenty minutes."

"Oh, good." Cath settled back into the cushions, letting her eyes drift closed again. "How was …" the question trailed off as she forgot what she was about to ask. Lindsey rolled her eyes but let the senile moment slide, changing the subject.

"How's Sara doing?" she asked, placing her empty bowl on the coffee table. Initially she had been pissed at her mother's absence, but curiosity got the better of her and she had googled Sara's injuries. Once she realised the severity of the situation, she had calmed down enough to accept the abandonment.

"She's doing alright." For the first time in weeks, Lindsey actually saw a smile on her mom's lips. "She's going to be released soon."

Cath stretched and moved to take the bowl to the sink, but Linds stopped her.

"I'll do it." She leapt to her feet, already moving towards the kitchen. "You rest for a little while. We don't have to leave yet."

Catherine watched her daughter disappear into the kitchen, blinking in surprise.

Apparently, while she'd been so occupied in the last few weeks, her little girl had grown up.

Taking her child's advice, she settled against the cushions and closed her eyes; absently thinking to herself that once things were back to normal, her and Lindsey would have a vacation somewhere to make up for it.

Anywhere but San Francisco.

X x x

"I needed that." Gil sighed, holding out his empty tumbler for a refill. Brass chuckled softly, obliging with the request.

"I can tell." He agreed, topping up his own glass too.

As they sipped in silence, the detective scrutinised his old friend. Grissom rarely let it show when something was bothering him, but occasionally cracks would begin to show in his seamless defences. Jim knew that with enough patience he would get the truth out of him; he just needed to bide his time.

And apparently the malt was loosening his tongue a little because it wasn't long before he released a heavy sigh.

"I didn't know it could hurt this much." He admitted. "To nearly lose someone."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Jim breathed, resting his elbows on the desk. "You know – after Ellie – Sara's the closest thing I have to a daughter. And lord knows I'm probably the closest thing she ever had to a proper father." He swirled his drink contemplatively. "I still wake up in a cold sweat thinking that we lost her."

"Hmm, me too."

Brass laughed softly, earning him a quirked eyebrow from the entomologist.

"I was just thinking about when she first came to Vegas." He explained. "I remember thinking, with her and Catherine working together that there was going to be a war on."

Grissom laughed heartily, pursing his lips.

"But how wrong were we?" The detective continued with a wistful smile.

"Catherine's always cared about her; she was just too stubborn to admit it until now." Gil mused.

Their reminiscence was broken by a soft knock at the door.

"Catherine said I might find you here." Doc Robbins explained, edging further into the room. He didn't specify who he was talking to but the men decided it didn't matter.

Jim gestured for him to have a seat, producing a third glass from somewhere and pouring the coroner a drink.

Doc gladly joined Gil behind the desk and the three men clinked their glasses together.

"So, where are we on the missing case file?" Doc asked, his throat burning from the first sip. "Any leads?"

"Rocco probably had it tossed." Jim growled huskily. "We're still looking into who took it."

"It had to be an inside job." Grissom added, casting a furtive glance into the hall.

"If there's a mole in this department, the Undersheriff is determined to sniff him out." Brass chuckled. "But, as far as we're concerned this case is closed."

"And about damn time." Doc added his sentiments, downing his drink and holding out the tumbler for a top-up. "So, what were we discussing?"

"Mother bear and the cubs." Jim answered cryptically, reclining slightly in his comfy leather chair.

Al sent him a knowing grin.

"Ah - Lady Catherine."


	21. Chapter 21

**Just a short epilogue to go now :) I hope you like **

**x x x x**

"Gil!"

He considered continuing down the hall as if he hadn't heard, but the desperation in Ecklie's call led Grissom to slow his pace, allowing the man to catch him up.

"Are you on your way to the hospital?" Conrad breathed, falling into step with him.

"Yeah, she's coming out tomorrow." Grissom hummed, stifling a yawn. The relief was evident in his voice; he simply could not wait for things to go back to how they had been.

As if reading his mind, Ecklie sighed and said; "Good, we can start to get back to normal again." He rubbed a hand over his head, an action Grissom had come to associate with stress in his boss. He had to admit, he had never seen Ecklie so worn out.

And to further establish this realisation, as Grissom wandered into his office - expecting Ecklie to continue down the hall - he was baffled to find that the balding man had followed him in. The entomologist sent him a strange look, quirking an eyebrow.

"Did you want something?" He enquired. Realising he had essentially stalked his colleague into the office, Ecklie sent him an apologetic shrug and promptly dropped into the chair opposite the desk; much to Grissom's growing disdain.

"The Undersheriff wants a meeting." Conrad explained with a groan. "He's figured out who helped Rocco get that evidence file and as a result he wants to completely overhaul the system of checking evidence out so that it can never happen again."

"Do we have a name?" Gil asked curiously, sliding into his own seat.

"Oh, some Rookie cop." Ecklie scoffed. "Rocco probably offered him more than his entire year's salary to sneak it out. But, you just know this is going to complicate the whole system." He stretched, pushing himself stiffly to his feet. "I hope Sara's feeling better – God knows, we need her back here as soon as possible."

"Well, I'll be sure to pass the message on." Grissom smiled brightly, waving as Ecklie wandered to the door. "Have fun with the Undersheriff." He added cheekily.

X x x

"How many times have you counted the ceiling tiles?" Warrick joked. Sara opted not to answer, but judging by her sullen pout he wasn't far wrong.

"I can't wait to get out of here." She moped. "The food here sucks."

Nick laughed, laying a reassuring hand on her arm.

"Well, as soon as you're free we'll take you to Franks."

The promise brought a smile back to her face.

"As soon as I'm free I need to start looking for some new wheels." She retorted, flashing them a grin. "I was thinking a Honda … or maybe a Yamaha."

The boys, scattered haphazardly around the room, shared a knowing look.

"Well, just don't tell Catherine," Warrick nudged her playfully. "If she thinks you're ever going near a bike again, she'll break your other leg."

"She doesn't scare me." Sara laughed, brushing off the threat.

"She scares me." Greg muttered, eliciting a bout of giggles from the rest of the group. Nick was the first to pick up on Sara's failed attempts to disguise the shot of pain through her lungs as she tried to hold her ribcage together, but the other two soon spotted it and the Texan nodded subtly towards the door.  
The last thing they wanted to do was cause her further injury when she was so close to being released.

He cleared his throat, making a dramatic effort to appear nonchalant as he stood up and stretched.

"Anyway, we'd better head to work." He stated, running a hand through his hair.

The other two followed suit, gathering their things together. Disappointment flashed briefly across Sara's face but she hid it well and sent them a bright smile.

"Thanks for the magazines." She said, gesturing to the extensive reading material they had provided.

"No problem." Warrick grinned, leaning down to place a kiss on her cheek. "We'll be back tomorrow to bust you out of here."

Once the mandatory hugs had been dispensed, the boys filed towards the door.

"Oh," Greg paused, spinning on his heel. "I nearly forgot – I met your neighbour the other day."

Sara furrowed her brow. "Mrs Stein?" She queried, bemused.

"No." Greg blinked. "Not unless she has a tail?"

Nick and Warrick exchanged a perplexed look, but Sara's bruised face broke out in a smile as realisation crossed her features.

"Ah, Snickers!"

"Snickers?" Nick repeated, leaning against the doorframe.

"My neighbour's kitten." She explained, turning back to Greg with earnest eyes. "How is she?"

"I don't know, she was purring – that's a good sign, right?" Greg shrugged. "She wasn't too happy when I threw her back out though."

"Aw." Sara frowned. "I hope you fed her first."

"You feed your neighbour's cat?" Warrick interrupted.

"Yeah." She shrugged, wincing as her shoulder emitted a painful click. "She spends most of her time in my flat. She's probably been wondering where I am."

"Well you'll be home soon so you can explain it to her." Greg smiled. "Oh, and don't be surprised if you're apartment looks a little different."

"What?" Her dark eyes flashed to him but he was already slinking past the other two into the safety of the hall. "Greg! She called after him, leaning as far forwards as her bandages would allow. "What did you do to my apartment?!"

X x x

"You're insane!"

"And you're an idiot!"

Hodges scoffed. "You seriously think the prequel Star Wars trilogy is better than the original trilogy?"

"Yes I do." Wendy ascertained, folding her arms across her chest defiantly. "And furthermore, 'Return of the Jedi' jumped the shark in terms of the plotline."

Okay, so now she was just provoking him, but he made it so damn easy.

"Jump … jumped the shark?" Hodges recoiled.

"She's right you know." Archie piped up, taking a sip of his coffee as he watched the debacle play out from his spot at the centre bench.

"You stay out of this!" Hodges barked, waving a disregarding hand at him. "Alright Miss Simms, if not for 'Return of the Jedi', how could we have known that Princess Leia is really Luke's twin?"

"That's exactly my point!" The DNA tech threw her hands up. "That was a pointless addition! All the other movies made perfect sense without that fact!"

In the hallway, Doc Robbins and David paused en route to the morgue, casting a glance into the break room. Without taking his eyes off the bickering pair, Doc leant closer to David.

"You hear that?" He asked.

The assistant looked around them, puzzled.

"Hear what?"

Al flashed him a grin. "That's the sound of things going back to normal."

X x x

"I'm not a cat, woman! Stop grooming me!" Sara attempted to bat her off, with little avail. One glare from Catherine and she settled for scowling quietly as the blonde continued tucking her back into bed after her short walk. The doctor had encouraged her to move around as much as possible, but her colleague seemed insistent on the opposite.

"You think I'm bad here, wait until I get you home." Cath warned playfully, a sly grin creeping across her lips. "You so much as sneeze, I'll be there."

"I can't sneeze." Sara sulked. "It makes my ribs hurt."

The blonde bit back a laugh, offering instead a sympathetic smile.

"You'll heal." She assured her friend.

"Yeah I know, 'one day at a time'." Sara recited dutifully. "I've never had much patience when it came to healing."

"Well, tough." Cath chuckled. "Because that's life."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence as Catherine continued her maternal assault on the small room and it's patient.

"Hey, I forgot to tell you." Sara piped up suddenly. "I called Susan Kellogg."

"You did?" Cath grinned, sitting down on the bed and taking Sara's hand in her own; something which had come to be a force of habit lately. "What did she say?"

"She was surprised." Sara laughed softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "She's invited me to stay with her for a while – when I can travel, of course."

"That's great." Cath smiled. "I think it'll do you both some good." She had begun doodling patterns on the back of the brunette's hand. "There are still a lot of people who care about you, you know."

"Yeah," Sara smiled shyly at her from beneath her lashes. "I know."

X x x

Outside, Jim and Grissom were watching their interaction with bemusement through the window. It felt like barely a day since they had been stood in much the same position, staring at her broken, lifeless body with the weight of imminent grief hanging over them.

"It's the boys' funeral in a week." Jim noted. "She'll be on crutches."

"She'll be fine." Gil dismissed the comment. "We're all going to be there for her."

"Yeah, I heard Ecklie had moved the shifts around so you could all leave early."

"He's been good." Grissom agreed begrudgingly. "For Ecklie."

Jim laughed.

"Yeah, I guess he has." He hummed in agreement. "He likes to play the tough-guy, but deep down he still has a heart."

They turned their attention back to the girls, who were locked in a hug. Catherine almost seemed to be rocking Sara, as if trying to send her to sleep.

"It's such a shame." Brass shook his head at last. "She lost her father, her grandparents, her brothers; all she had left was her mother. And now she doesn't even have that … and she never really did."

Grissom pursed his lips, his gaze glued to the scene playing out on the other side of the glass.

"Yes she does."

Jim sent him a sideways glance and followed his line of sight back to Catherine and Sara. Releasing a soft laugh, he smiled, before nodding silently in agreement.


	22. Chapter 22

**Well, we've reached the end :) I hope you've enjoyed it; thank you to everyone who read and reviewed :) **

**x x x x**

She was beginning to consider leaving the front door unlocked. She had this thought again when a shot of pain ran down her leg as she clicked her way across the room to answer the incessant knocking.

Her ribs ached, her stomach cramped, she had blisters on both hands despite the heavy bandaging, and once she sat down it took an extraordinarily long time to stand up again; but she was actually starting to get used to using crutches.

And after her initial bemusement at coming home and finding her apartment had changed, she had discovered that Greg's new layout was much easier to navigate. She was even considering leaving it like that once she'd healed – although she hadn't told him that. No need to stroke his ego unnecessarily.

Speaking of, the young man's goofy grin was the first thing she saw when she opened the door, followed by the rest of the team lurking behind him in the shadowy hall.

"We brought doughnuts!" He beamed, slinking past her as she leant heavily against the door.

The end-of-shift routine had changed somewhat – at least one morning a week they would stop by to check on her, under the guise of a team breakfast.

"Hey Sugar." Nick greeted, placing a kiss on her cheek and helping guide her back to the couch.

"Hey Snickers!" Greg grinned as the kitten materialised from nowhere and began trailing around his legs.

"She's missed you." Sara commented, dropping back onto the sofa.

"Aw, I've missed her too!" He scooped the little cat up and placed her on the counter top, instinctively heading for her food and bowl.

"He's gone soft." Warrick scoffed, helping himself to a pastry and dropping onto the couch beside Sara. "You broke him." He mumbled around a mouthful of his breakfast, patting her leg softly.

"Leave him alone, he's getting in touch with his sensitive side." Catherine joked, grinning playfully at the young man, who glowered back in response.

"There's nothing wrong with being an animal person." Greg insisted, settling on the arm of Grissom's chair with Snicker's on his lap.

Grissom turned absently, finding himself nose-to-nose with the feline. He recoiled, scrunching his nose up when Snickers instigated an unwanted Eskimo kiss; eliciting joyous laughter from the rest of the group.

"Aw, I think she likes you." Sara teased.

"She's got a wet nose." Grissom huffed, leaning as far away as possible from the mischievous little kitten who was lifting a paw playfully towards his face.

Once the giggling died down and the team had settled themselves around the apartment with their breakfast, Nicky was the first to break the comfortable silence. He looked up, scanning the room.

"Hey guys," he called, a puzzled frown marring his features. "Did anyone tell Hodges _where_ we were meeting?"

**~ Fin ~**


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